Grissom walked into the break room seeing me sitting at the table with Nick eating. He walked over placing a paper in front of me.
"What is this?" He asked
I looked down at the transfer paper I put on his desk earlier.
"It's a request for transfer to day shift." I said, looking up at him.
"Why?" He asked, upset.
"Uh, I think I hear Greg calling my name." Nick said, getting up escaping the line of fire.
Grissom eyed me as I cleaned up my things standing.
"I don't want to work under you anymore." I said
"Sara, I am not signing my name on this until I have a good reason." He said, watching me go to the trash can.
"Okay, I have one. I don't like being treated without respect."
"I respect you."
"No, you don't, Grissom. You never have!" I said, walking over to him.
"Sara, I don't know what you want. I have always treated you with respect."
"I want to transfer." I said "If you don't sign it I will have to leave."
"Sara, you can't leave."
"Why can't I?" I asked, stepping closer to him watching as he backed up.
"I….we need you here."
"You need me here." I said "Just say it."
"Sara, I can't say that and you know why."
I looked at him slowly nodding.
"Well…I know I have to leave." I said, looking at him in pain then walking out. He sighed watching me leave then he looked at the paper.
He sat at his desk listening to classical music deep in thought. The fear of losing me made him very sad. I walked in knocking making him look over at me. He lifted up the transfer paper signed. I took it looking down at his signature.
"You are free." He said
I looked at him as he stared at me.
"Somehow that makes me sad not happy." I said "Thank you."
"I hope it works out." He said
I nodded looking at him then I walked to the door.
"Sara?"
I turned looking at him.
"You've been an asset to this lab."
He watched me leave then he sat back. I walked out stopping looking at his signature again looking back wishing he would rush out of his office and beg me to not go, but he didn't.
I started under a new supervisor and a new team. I realized fast why there was a rivalry between night staff and day staff. They despised us and it showed until I proved I was a good CSI. It took a few weeks to get used to them.
Grissom unlocked his office door going in early one day. He put his things on his desk looking at the mail in his hand. I stopped in the hallway seeing him. He put his mail down sighing as he looked over seeing me. Recovering, I quickly went past his office leaving.
I went outside taking a breath. Grissom looked down at the unopened mail on his desk. Two weeks later smoke rose from the building as lab workers ran out screaming bloodied and bruised after the building exploded from an unknown cause. Catherine appeared helping people as they came out of the building. Nick and Warrick ran over to her looking in shock at the carnage around them.
"We saw it on the news! What happened?" Nick said
"I have no idea!" Catherine said "Go inside and check to make sure no one is injured."
Nick and Warrick ran in the building coughing as smoke smothered them. Nick held his hand over his mouth and nose as Warrick did. People ran past them. They made their way further down the hallways hearing people call for help moaning in pain. Nick got his phone out calling for ambulances as Warrick knelt down to the first person he saw.
"Help me!" The woman cried
"Help's coming! I am going to stay here until they come." Warrick said
She nodded crying as her arm bled against her lab coat. Nick walked on down the hallway that was wet as the sprinklers came on. He looked down seeing others lying still with glass sticking out of them. Winching, he walked over kneeling down touching each neck he came to finding no pulse. He went on seeing the smoke clear seeing other bodies along the way. As he knelt down to another person he looked over seeing me lying on my side against the wall wet from the water. He got up running over kneeling down touching my neck.
"Sara, you better not be dead!" He said
A thump under his fingers made him sigh with relief. As he gently moved me to my back he could see that my side had a shard of glass sticking out with blood all around it. Blood pooled on the floor making Nick freak out.
"Nick?" Grissom called
"Over here!"
He looked up seeing Grissom coming over.
"It's Sara, she's hurt!"
Grissom knelt down seeing the glass. His heart went into his throat. Forgetting about Nick and his professionalism as he touched my cheek.
"Okay….go and get someone and I'll stay with her." Grissom said
"Be right back!" Nick said, getting up.
Grissom put his hand through my hair feeling me move. I slowly opened my eyes seeing his face.
"Grissom?" I said, slowly.
"Don't move."
I felt his hand take mine as I winched.
"What's…..happened?" I asked, trying to clear my head.
"There was an explosion." He said
The way he talked in the calm and relaxed manner was scaring me. I knew something was wrong.
"What's wrong with me?"
He took my hand smiling faintly at me.
"Nothing, you're going to be all right."
I tried to move feeling him push me down.
"My side hurts." I said
"It's okay. Just look at me."
"Why…are you….?" I said, watching him move closer. He watched me start to shake looking scared.
I closed my eyes as he touched my cheek. His touch was comforting and gentle. I almost forgot where we were and what was happening until Nick ran over with the EMT's. I opened my eyes seeing them. One man with brown hair knelt down at my head looking over at something. The other moved Grissom so he could assess the damage. The pain on my side became increased as they prepared to move me.
"Gently." The one man said, as they lifted me up. I laid on the stretcher searching for the one person that I needed.
"Why does my side hurt?!" I cried "Grissom….Grissom!"
He appeared taking my hand again.
"I'm here."
"Let's go." Someone said
Grissom walked alongside me never taking his hand away. I winched at the light outside. I could hear people crying and screaming. They put me in the ambulance. Grissom got in sitting down beside the other man.
"If we take the glass out now she will bleed." The man said
"Glass….what glass?" I asked
"It's nothing Sara." Grissom said
I moved my head over seeing the tip of the glass then I looked at him.
"Grissom…..there's glass!"
"Calm down." He said
"Take it out!"
"What's her name?" The man asked
"Sara."
"Sara, we have to wait to take it out at the hospital. Okay, so just keep calm."
I looked at him then at Grissom feeling my heart race.
"Look at me, Sara." Grissom said "Calm down."
The siren started as we drove off. A blanket was laid over me. Grissom moved closer to me rubbing my hand as I started to close my eyes.
"Sara….keep looking at me. Don't close your eyes." He said
I heard someone moving around then someone talking.
"Pull over we are losing her!"
"Sara, wake up!"
"Could you step outside please?" The EMT asked
Grissom reluctantly got out allowing the driver to join his coworker as they began working on me. Grissom looked in as the paddles were used shocking the life back into me. He closed his eyes begging that I would come back. When the second shock came they looked at their monitor seeing a pulse.
"We have a pulse. Let's go before she flat lines again!"
Grissom got back in before the ambulance swerved back on the road. When I woke up next I was in a hospital room with a bandage around the spot where the glass was. Another person was lying in the bed near mine asleep. I looked at the window on my side seeing the trees outside swaying. Grissom came in walking around the bed looking at me.
"How do you feel?"
"My chest hurts." I said, in a small voice.
"They had to shock you back to life." He said
I touched the spot on my chest that hurt. Grissom seemed lost in thought as I reached over touching his hand. He looked down at this. He looked back at me. I moved looking over at the sleeping person near me then I looked back at him. He took his hand away from mine.
"You need to stay here for a while so you can heal." He said, casually.
"Gris?" I said
"I have to go." He said, leaving quickly. I watched the door close then I looked to the side.
He did not come to see me after that. When they let me leave I took a cab home. I got out seeing Grissom standing by the stairs to my building. He watched me walk over.
"Hey." He said
"What are you doing here?" I asked
"I was waiting for you. Catherine told me you were coming home today."
"You would have known that if you would have visited me." I said, going up the stairs slowly.
"I had to work."
I stopped winching some as he walked up looking at me.
"Do you need help?"
"No." I said "I can do this myself."
He watched me go on up. I slammed my door walking over to my bedroom door. A knock stopped me instantly I was mad. I walked over opening it making him step back.
"I don't want to talk to you!" I shouted
"Sara, I just want to talk a moment." He said
"Why can't you leave me alone?!"
"Sara, please just…..let me talk then I will go."
"How am I to get over you if you keep coming back?"
He stood there in silence looking at me. I came out looking at him.
"Do you love me?" I asked
He stood in place with his mouth open a little. I waited silently watching the different emotions appear on his face.
"Sara….I…"
"Answer the question!"
"No."
I nodded looking down feeling tears go down my face.
"Well that is all I needed to know." I said "Goodbye Grissom."
He watched me go back into my apartment.
"Sara, wait! Look, this is difficult for me!"
"Not for me." I said
He watched me shut the door locking it. I slid down to the floor holding my head in my hands. Grissom looked at the door then he slowly walked away.
Jim Brass just sat down on his couch after a long shift. He turned on his TV holding a root beer undoing his tie. He sighed relaxing when his doorbell rang. He groaned getting up setting his bottle down as he walked to the door. Grissom stood on the other side looking defeated.
"Hey." He said
"Bad shift?" He asked
"Hasn't started yet. I have the evening off." He said
"Come on in."
Grissom walked in seeing a game on the TV in the living room.
"Root beer?" Jim asked, walking past him.
"No." He said, walking in seeing his friend sit on the couch taking the bottle off the side table drinking. Grissom sat in a chair near Brass sighing.
"What's wrong?"
"What wrong is I am a scientist not a people person."
Brass nodded as he drank.
"Let me guess….this is about Sara."
Grissom looked at him as Jim looked at the game then at him.
"How did you know that?"
"Gil, I have known you a long time and there is only one person that can get you in this mood."
Grissom looked at the game as Jim looked at him.
"What did she say?"
"Goodbye."
"Oh."
Grissom looked down then at him.
"I've lost her, Jim."
"No, not yet you haven't. Why don't you go and tell her the truth?"
"I can't do that." Grissom said, standing walking around the room.
"Why?"
"I am not good at this stuff. Life was easier when I went to work and came home."
"That is a lonely life." Jim said
Grissom looked at him.
"It's all I know. I am to old to change."
"Then you had better say goodbye to her as well. Relationships are hard and they do change your lifestyle. The thing is you need that. You need to change like we all do."
Grissom rubbed his head as Jim took a drink of his root beer.
I woke up the next day feeling stiff. After a shower and changing my clothes I felt like me again. I sat on the couch eating a sandwich when someone knocked on the door. I got up opening the door seeing Grissom with a bag.
"I brought you something to eat." He said "Then I thought we could talk."
"I said goodbye." I said
"Please?"
I looked at him then I slowly opened the door letting him in. He walked in carrying the bag setting it on the counter looking back at me as I closed the door.
"So how are you?"
"Why are you really here?" I asked, walking over.
"To see how you are."
"You could have sent Catherine."
"She can't say what I want to."
"I'm listening." I said, folding my arms over my chest.
"Food first."
We ate the take out that he brought. I savored every mouthful realizing how hungry I had become. We finished allowing him to offer to wash the two plates we used. I stood at the counter watching him wipe his hands with a towel looking at me.
"Sara, I know over the years our relationship has become something more than just boss and employee." He said, putting the towel down as he leaned back against the counter crossing his arms over his chest. "That is what happens when you find someone passionate about what you are passionate about. I overlooked the possibility your feelings for me had deepened into something more than just good friends."
I watched him walk over standing in front of me.
"When you said goodbye yesterday it hit me. I lost you and it was….a difficult concept for me. Having you transfer to day shift was hard enough, but now it's like you are really gone and I….can't seem to…..function, or think."
He searched my eyes as I felt my heart race.
"I cannot say goodbye." He said "Please come back to me, Sara."
I opened my mouth looking at him.
"This is the first time I see the real you." I said, gently.
"Will you come back?"
I slowly nodded feeling him hug me stiffly then he relaxed when I put my arms around him. He moved back touching my cheek.
"I will sign the form when I get to work."
"Okay."
"You'll start next week."
I watched him move from me going to the door. He turned looking at me.
"Okay?" He asked
I nodded making him smile at me before he went out the door. I sat down on the couch staring into space. I came back glad to be with night shift again. Grissom came out of his office as I was coming in.
"Hey." He said
"Hey, where do you need me?"
"Well right now I need you in the lab. If Nick needs back up I will send you." He said, holding some files under his arm.
"Okay." I said
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah." I said
He nodded then he looked down at his files.
"I have to get to interrogation."
I nodded letting him go. I didn't see him after that until after shift. He was coming out of his office locking it as he prepared to leave. I saw him making his way to the front door as I ran out to catch him.
When I came out he was talking to a blonde woman I had never saw before. She smiled nodding as he talked smiling as well. He looked over seeing me then he said goodbye to her looking at me. I watched her walk away as I walked over.
"Going home?" He asked
"I suppose." I said, uneasy about how we were talking to each other.
"Me to." He said
"Grissom, I was wondering if you would like to come to my place or out at that diner up the road."
"Well I would, but I….."
I stepped back nodding.
"I understand." I said
He watched me start to walk past when he took my arm stopping me.
"Wait."
I watched him look at his watch then he looked at me.
"Why don't you come to my place?"
"Really?" I asked
"Want to ride together?" He asked
"Okay."
He led me to his car then he got in smiling at me. I tried to relax, but inside I was screaming. He led me inside his house turning on some lights as I followed him looking around.
"Make yourself at home." He said, before disappearing into a hallway on the right. I heard a door shut then silence. When he came out changed into his casual clothes he saw me looking at a painting by his TV. "Do you like that?"
I looked at him smiling.
"Yes, who did that?"
"I did." He said, looking at it.
"I didn't know you could paint!" I said, looking at him.
"I don't anymore." He said "Now, what do you feel like eating?"
"Eggs."
"Simple." He said, walking away. I walked over watching him get a carton of eggs out of his fridge and a skillet out of a cabinet. He motioned me over then he put some butter in the pan watching is melt and sizzle. "Do you know how to crack an egg?"
"Yes." I said
He gave me an egg watching me hit it against the pan then I used both my hands to open it.
"No, you have to use one hand." He said
"I can't do that."
"I can show you." He said, getting another egg out. He gave me the egg then put his hand over mine cracking it against the pan then he moved my fingers opening the egg to drop in the skillet. I smiled looking down then at him. "Good job."
"How do you know how to do this?" I asked
"My mother." He said, helping me again. I laughed as it oozed out of the shell plopping down. "Well it works better when someone isn't helping."
"I like when you help me." I said
He looked at me as I smiled at him.
"I'll let you do the rest." I said, moving. He watched me go then he continued.
I ate as he watched me at the island in the kitchen. He poured two glasses of wine as I sat back shaking my head.
"This is very good." I said
"Glad you like it." He said, eating.
"I hate cooking." I said
"Why?"
"When I come home from a long shift I have no energy to whip something up."
"Eggs are easy." He said, before drinking some wine.
"There about the only thing that is." I said "I usually just drink a beer."
"Hmm." He said
"What?" I asked, looking at him.
He looked at me wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"Nothing, I was just thinking that is the reason you look to thin. You don't eat."
"I do."
"I have only seen you eat a sandwich at break." He said
"You're not with me all the time. I do eat."
"From now on no beer."
I sighed looking down at my plate.
"When I was growing up that was the only thing I saw my parents do. There were beer cans all over the place then the fighting began."
"Must have been terrible for you." Grissom said
"My dad lost his job and alcohol was a release. Then he became nasty after a few. My mother was worse. She would hit my brother and I all the time. It was just a game for them."
I looked over at Grissom as he looked at me.
"I came home from school and my mother killed my dad in the living room."
His hand touched mine.
"When things get tough I go to the beer."
"Sara, you don't have to do that now. I am here if you need to talk."
"What if I have that gene in me? I could kill you."
"You do not have that in you. Trust me I would know."
He put his hand on my cheek gently caressing it. I turned my head into his hand watching him move forwards to kiss me. His lips came closer till they touched mine. It was gentle and delicate. He began to move back, but I didn't want it to end. Bringing my lips forward I caught his slowly kissing him letting him take the lead. His other hand went to my cheek holding my face. He moved back again this time I didn't push. Opening his eyes he looked into mine.
"I suppose I should go so you can sleep." I said
"I can take you back to your car."
I nodded watching him take our dishes back into the kitchen. He put them into the sink then came over to me taking my hand leading me to the front door. We drove in silence holding each other's hand. He parked getting out coming around to my side. I got out as he opened the door then walked to my car.
"Will you be all right?" He asked
"I think so." I said, unlocking my door then I faced him. He came closer kissing me again. I put my arms around his back as he put his on my waist. I moved back smiling at him as he looked at me.
"I need you." He said
"I know."
He nodded moving back watching me open my car door getting in. I waved at him as he walked to his car. When he drove off I sat back closing my eyes realizing that like it or not change was on its way.