She Stood Motionless, a csi fanfic

She stood motionless, one hand clinging to the open locker door as she peered sightlessly into it, so caught up in her inner turmoil that she had forgotten what she was doing and why she was doing it.

He stood in the doorway watching her. She hadn't moved so much as a muscle and he wondered how long she had been standing there like that.

Simultaneously their minds flashed back to the events that had occurred that day.

Sara was alone in the lab, methodically sorting the contents of a vacuum cleaner bag. Her mind wandered to the conversation she had had with Warrick before shift.

He was leaning back against his locker with his arms locked around her waist.

"So, are you still making me breakfast after shift?" she asked.

"Uh-huh," he murmured distractedly as he kissed her neck.

"You gonna tell me what you're making?"

"Nope," he said, kissing her lips.

"Why not?"

He just kissed her again.

"Warrick," she laughed.

"Hmm?" Another kiss.

"Stop."

He stopped.

"What?"

She smiled sweetly.

"It's time to work."

She kissed him this time before disengaging herself from him arms and walking out of the locker room.

She heard a noise from the door and looked up. Greg was standing there. She smiled at him cheerfully.

"Hey, Greg."

She looked back down at what she was sorting.

"Sara."

The tone of his voice made her glance up sharply.

"What? What's wrong?"

He came over to where she was sitting and took her arm.

"You need to come with me," he said, pulling her up from her stool.

"Greg? What's going on?" she asked confusedly, letting him drag her down the hall. He didn't reply. He took her to the break room where the rest of the team, minus Warrick, was waiting. They all turned and looked at her when she entered. Grissom spoke.

"Sara, there's been an accident."

Her heart skipped a beat. Her mouth went dry. She knew what was coming.

"What happened?" she croaked.

"There was a bomb in the house Warrick was processing."

"I'm going," she said quickly.

"No."

"Grissom-"

"No, Sara."

"You can't-" she swallowed the emotion rising in her throat. "You can't expect me to stay here!"

Nick stepped in front of her, resting both hands on her shoulders.

"Sara." He sighed. "Honey, you know you can't go. It's a conflict of interest. Come on, I'll take you home."

She shrugged him off.

"No. I'm staying."

She turned back to Grissom, looking at him pleadingly.

"How do you know? How do you know he's…" She couldn't finish.

"His car is there. They found his kit and what's left of his LVPD jacket. His name tag was on it," he explained calmly.

"But-"

"They're still sorting through the debris. Brass said there's no way anyone could have survived that blast."

Sara made a sound of distress in the back of her throat but collected herself quickly. She nodded.

"Catherine, Nick, and I are going out there, okay?" Grissom told her gently. "I'm leaving Greg here to work on his case. You should really go home, Sara."

She shook her head. She knew if she went home she would crash completely. She had to hold it together.

"I need to work," was all she said. She turned and left them standing there, watching as she walked slowly back to her lab.

Warrick slammed the back door of his truck as he finished loading the last of the evidence he had collected. He hopped into the front seat and turned the keys in the ignition. Nothing happened. He looked down, he had plenty of gas. He tried again. Still nothing.

"The battery must be dead," he muttered to himself.

He got out of the truck and pulled out his cellphone. The battery was dead. He sighed in disgust. He looked around trying to decide what to do. Just then a cab pulled up at the house next door.

"Hey!" he yelled at the woman exiting the vehicle. "Will you hold that for me?"

He made sure his truck was locked and ran over to the waiting cab.

"Thanks," he said to the waiting woman.

"No problem."

He climbed in back and gave the driver the address of the crime lab. He sat back as the car started moving. He hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for leaving the evidence unattended. At least his car was locked. He shivered against the cool air blowing in the car. Suddenly something occurred to him. He had left his jacket in the house. It had been sitting beside, oh man, he'd left his kit there too. He couldn't believe he'd been so forgetful! The sunlight disappeared as they entered a tunnel and slowly rolled to a stop. Warrick looked out the front window and saw nothing but brake lights. He sighed, slumping back into the seat.

Sara focused all her effort on work. Greg had hovered for a while but had eventually gone back to work on his own case. A part of her refused to believe that Warrick was really gone. After all, they had found no body. He could still be alive.

She didn't know how long she had worked when suddenly a shadow fell across the table. She looked up to find Ecklie standing there, looking at her sympathetically.

"I just heard about Brown," he said. "I'm sorry for your loss."

When she didn't respond, he simply nodded and walked away.

So, they had called Ecklie. They had told him that Warrick was dead. The finality of the situation began to sink in and Sara knew she had to get out of there. She left her work sitting on the table and walked to the locker room to get her things.

After what felt like hours, Warrick finally stepped out of the cab in front of the police precinct. It was closer than the lab so he had just redirected the driver to go there as he figured that someone could give him a ride back to the crime scene and jumpstart his truck. When he walked in he immediately spotted Brass walking toward him talking furiously into his cellphone. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Warrick standing there and clapped his phone shut. Confused by his reaction, Warrick stared at him curiously.

"Brass?"

"Where the hell have you been!" Brass yelled at him.

"My truck died and my cell wouldn't work so I caught a cab back here," Warrick defended himself. "I've been sitting in traffic for ages."

Brass looked at him incredulously.

"You mean to tell me that when you left the scene, the house was still in one piece?"

Now Warrick was the one who looked incredulous.

"Of course it was! What's going on?"

Brass started forward and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him back outside and toward his car. He opened the passenger door and planted Warrick firmly in the seat. He opened his phone and dialed.

"Grissom, get your team back to the lab now!" he said and shut the phone without waiting for a response. He walked around and climbed into the driver's seat, starting the car and pulling out into the traffic.

"Rick, there was a bomb at that house."
Warrick paled.

"What?"

"It must have gone off after you left. You dodged a bullet there, son."

Warrick rubbed a hand over his face. "Damn."

"Yeah, damn. When we got there we found your truck buried under pieces of the house and then we found your kit blown apart and what was left of your jacket in the rubble."

Warrick sat silently, realizing how that must have looked. If only he hadn't been so forgetful.

"Grissom, Nick, and Catherine have been out there helping search for you."

Warrick's heart sank. He felt horrible for causing all this trouble.

They pulled into the crime lab parking lot and got out just as Grissom's truck pulled up. He, Nick, and Catherine exited the vehicle looking tired and worn. Almost as one they looked up and saw Warrick standing beside Brass.

Catherine broke first, running and throwing her arms around his neck. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her, returning the embrace.

"We thought you were dead!" she cried.

Nick came up to him and clapped him on the shoulder, his eyes misty.

"Man, it's good to see you, bro."

"So I hear," Warrick responded. "Sorry about all this," he said sheepishly.

Suddenly Catherine gasped and pulled away.

"Sara," she breathed.

Warrick looked at her, concerned. "What about her?"

"We told her you were dead, Rick," Nick said quietly.

"You did what?" Warrick yelled, grabbing Nick by the shirtfront.

Nick placed his hands over Warrick's.

"We didn't know what else to think, Rick! You truck was there! Your stuff was inside the house!"

Warrick released Nick's shirt and pushed by him.

"I have to find her," he said as he passed.

He stood in the doorway watching her. She hadn't moved so much as a muscle and he wondered how long she had been standing there like that.

"Sara," he called softly.

Sara closed her eyes at the sound of his voice. He knew she probably thought she was hearing things.

"Sara, look at me," he said.

Her eyes popped open and she sucked a breath in as she turned. When she saw him standing there her breath shuddered out and she took a step toward him before her knees gave out and she sank to the floor. He rushed to her and went down on his knees in front of her. Tears were streaming down her face as he gathered her up in his arms. She tensed at first, still in disbelief, before letting go and wrapping her arms around his back. He cradled her in his lap as she sobbed against his chest, clutching at his back as if he might disappear if she didn't hold onto him tightly enough.

"Shh, it's okay baby," he soothed as he rocked her. "I'm here. I'm okay. It's okay, Sara."

The others gathered quietly just inside the doorway and watched as Warrick tried to comfort his distraught girlfriend.

Sara just cried and cried. Warrick grew concerned that she would make herself ill and finally pulled her back, cupping her face in his hands.

"Sara, stop this now," he said as firmly as he could while looking into her tear-filled eyes. "I'm okay. You're okay. Everything is alright now."

She nodded slowly and reached a shaky hand up to touch his face. He wiped the tears from her face and kissed her forehead.

"You gonna be okay now?" he asked.

She nodded again.

"You wanna get out of here?"

"Can," her voice cracked and she choked back more tears, "can you take me home?"

"Yeah, baby, I can take you home," he said, scooping her into his arms and rising from the floor. Oblivious to the others in the room and still dealing with the overwhelming need to hold onto her love, Sara wrapped her arms around Warrick's neck and buried her face against it. Nick hurried over and grabbed Sara's keys from the top shelf of her open locker, handing them to Warrick.

"Thanks, man," Warrick told him quietly.

Everyone stood back as he walked by, and Greg, who had only found out that Warrick was still alive when he had heard Sara crying and had come to find her, followed him. He opened the passenger door of Sara's truck for Warrick and watched as he put her on the seat, whispering to her for a minute before she removed her arms from around his neck and allowed him to close her door.

When Warrick turned around, Greg held the keys out to him. He reached for them and found himself enveloped in a hug instead.

"Man, I'm so glad you're okay," Greg said.

"Thanks, Greg," Warrick said, pulling back and taking the keys.

When he climbed into the car, Sara immediately reached for his hand and held it tightly between her own. She was able to walk by the time they reached her apartment so he walked beside her with his arm around her waist. As soon as they were inside he took her straight back to her bedroom. He sat her on the side of her bed and squatted in front of her. She smiled at him through teary eyes.

"Now, now, we're not having this again," he said mock seriously as he wiped away her new tears.

"I'm sorry," she said, tears still trickling down her cheeks. "I thought you were dead," she swallowed back a sob, "and I didn't know what to do."

"I know, baby. I'm sorry."

He took off her shoes and laid her back on the bed. He perched next to her on the mattress and brushed her hair back tenderly.

"You need to sleep now. You're exhausted," he said. "I'll be right out here if you need me." He started for the door but was stopped by her panicked voice.

"Warrick?"

He went back to her side and she reached to take his hand.

"What is it?" he asked. "What's the matter?"

"Will you lie here with me?" she asked meekly. "Please? I don't want you to go away."

"Okay, Sara."

He kicked his own shoes off next to hers and settled beside her on the bed. She rolled over to face him and grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers with his and tucking them next to her cheek on the pillow before closing her eyes contentedly.

A few minutes later her sleepy voice came again.

"Warrick?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"I love you."

Warrick looked over at her. Her eyes were closed still and there was a soft smile on her face. He leaned over and kissed her tenderly.

"I love you too, Sara."

The End