Disclaimer: I do NOT own CSI.
I think my weird dreams are back again...
An idea in which our favourite couple could've got together. Post – committed.
I had to write this out. Sorry for any errors, one of Grissom's migraines has invaded my head.
Ice Cold to Intense Heat
"Great. Just great." mumbles Grissom, as he steers the Denali to the road side.
Earlier this afternoon he was called to a crime scene, or what was thought to be a crime scene, three hours away from Las Vegas. He was hoping that the ride out would clear his head and help get his feelings in order. However, that quickly changed when the only free CSI was the brunette he didn't want to think about, the brunette who makes his heart ache when he thinks of her. When they arrived they were informed that some local college students had set it up as a hoax, so Grissom turned the car around and headed back to the lab.
He's in a rotten mood, he's been driving for four hours, the tension in the car can be cut with a knife and now, just to make the situation worse, a thunder storm has started. Sara offered to drive back, but Grissom refused, he thought that if he concentrated on driving, his mind wouldn't wander.
He was wrong.
"Problem?" asks Sara, quietly.
"Yes, there's a problem Sara." he snaps, instantly regretting it.
"Sorry..." she whispers and sinks back down in her seat.
"No...No I'm sorry, Sara. I didn't mean to snap at you." he sighs. "It's just...could this night get any worse?" he whispers, more to himself than to Sara.
"Am...am I really that unbearable?" she whispers.
Gil looks over at her, hating himself for making her feel that he hates being around her. He knows that he's treated her terribly recently, but he can't help it.
"Sara, that's not what I meant. The crime scene was a hoax, so that means a six hour round trip for no reason, I'm getting a migraine; thanks to the storm and I'm pretty sure we've just run out of gas." he whispers.
"What?" she asks, looking at the dashboard. "The gauge reads full."
"Yeah, I can see that, Sara. It must be sticking."
Grissom slams both hands against the dashboard in frustration, startling Sara.
"See.." he says.
Sara turns her head towards the fuel gauge, just in time to watch the red pointer move from 'full' to 'empty'.
"Great. Just great." she smiles, sarcastically, as she repeats Grissom's earlier words.
At the same time, they both pull out their phones and groan as they both read 'No signal' across their screens.
"Great..." Sara whispers again and leans her head against the window.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Grissom leans back in his seat and thinks back over last few weeks.
Things had been going well over the past few months, between himself and Sara, until the incident last week with Adam Trent. The moment he looked through the window and found Adam holding a sharp shard of pottery to Sara's neck, that's when his world changed. His heart stopped beating as he looked directly into her brown eyes and found them full of fear and...love. He knew that she thought her life was over and that she was trying to tell him that she loved him. Her eyes were begging him to understand, and he did. Fear gripped at his heart at the possibility that the woman he loves; has always loved, could be taken away from him. Luckily she came out of it unharmed and later that night, at home, Grissom prayed for the first time in years. He prayed to a higher power, giving thanks for keeping Sara here with him, for keeping her safe. That was when his feelings for her forced their way to the front of his mind and he hasn't been able to suppress them again. Feeling which he is admittedly scared of and which have made him fall back into his old ways with Sara. Now he's back to avoiding her, or trying to avoid her, and hurting her, the same as he always has and he hates himself for it, but he doesn't know what else to do.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
They sit in silence, the only sound being the rain, which is now turning to hail, bouncing off the car. Grissom keeps looking over at Sara, admiring her. Although she looks hurt, there's still something there that makes her look beautiful, heart achingly beautiful. All he wants to do is admit his feelings to her, to tell her that he doesn't hate being around her. He wants to take her in his arms and apologise for every ounce of pain he's caused her over the years. He watches her intently, as she stares out into the blackness, until her eyes fall closed.
I wonder what she's thinking about. Probably about me and how much I've hurt her. Oh God, don't flatter yourself, Gil.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Sara opens her eyes slowly and looks at her watch, she must have dozed off for forty minutes or so. She feels cold, she can feel the cold starting to seep through the vents in to the car and looks around for a coat or a blanket or something. Although it's the height of summer, she's icy cold and she's only wearing a vest top, light jacket and linen trousers. She starts to shiver a little and she pulls her jacket tighter around her body, desperate to feel warmth, before turning her head towards the window to look out into the pitch black night.
At her movements, Grissom looks at her and worry surges through his body. She looks pale, almost whiter than white and although she's shivering, he can tell that her breathing is uneven, slower than usual. He moves slightly to shrug out of his jacket, before he realises that all he's wearing is a t-shirt.
"Damn..." he mutters, making Sara jump.
She looks at him blankly for a second, before her eyes flutter closed.
"You're cold." he states.
All Sara can manage is a small head nod before Grissom jumps from the car, allowing a blast of cold air to rush in. A second later, she feels another blast of cold and she can hear him shuffling around in the trunk, looking for something. Eventually he opens the drivers door and jumps back in his seat. Sara moans and starts to shiver a little more as she looks at him, he's soaked right through and he has small beads of ice in his greying curly hair.
"I can't find a blanket, or anything useful, in the trunk.
"I'm...I'm okay..."
"Sara...honey, you're not okay. We need to get you warmed up." he whispers, unable to keep the panic he's feeling out of his voice. He takes hold of her hands and rubs them between his. "I know you're cold but we're going to have brave the weather."
"Too...cold." she whimpers.
"We have to, Sara. You're in the early stages of hypothermia, if we don't get you warm..." he trails off.
Sara lifts her eyes and looks directly in to his, shaking her head.
"I can't..." she whispers.
"Honey, listen to me. I know it's cold and wet outside, but moving about will warm us up a little. There's a motel about a half mile behind us. It'll take ten minutes to walk there, Sara. Then we'll be warm."
"Griss...you're shaking like crazy..." she chokes out. "You were only out of the car for one minute. It's too cold. Can't we just...huddle together?"
"Honey, I'm fine. I'm thick skinned." he says, whilst attempting to smile a little.
A loud rumble of thunder rolls through the desert, causing the car to vibrate and the back window to shatter. Sara squeals in shock and leans forward, placing her head between her knees as Grissom leans across to cover her body, instinctively protecting the woman he loves. A second later, an electric blue lightening strike bounces off the ground yards from their car, before another rumble of thunder, causing Sara to cry out again.
"Sshh...It's okay..." he soothes.
"Griss...it's not safe..."
"Sara, I promise you, we'll be safer outside than we are in here. Anyway, now with the window broken it's about to get much colder in here."
"Oh, God, I hate Mother Nature." she moans. "I guess I should tell you that thunderstorms freak me out. They always have, ever since I..." she trails off.
"Sweetheart, I won't let anything happen to you. I promise. Do you trust me?"
Sara stares at him and he can see the intense fear in her eyes, fear of something which is from more than a thunderstorm, something painful from childhood. He has a feeling, deep inside his stomach, that he knows what that fear is and his heart breaks at the thought of it.
"With my life..." she whispers, before shrieking at another roll of thunder.
"Okay...Lets go." he says.
TBC...
Chapter 2 will be up on Tuesday, hopefully.
I know this is a bit...naff, but I had to write it out.
Lynne x