Disclaimer : No copyright infringement intended. The characters belong to CBS and other entities. The plot is mine though, I'm not sharing.
Timeline : shortly after grave danger.
A/N : Life is hard and writing is not easy either, but when you have someone so patient to help you throughout the whole process, life and writing could be enjoyable:)
Therefore, a lot of gratitude go to Di and Sylvie.
=== A Moment Together ==
She was enjoying the moment, letting go all of the unanswered whys in their relationship, when his sudden movement startled her. Her heart nearly jumped out of her throat and the camera she had been holding nearly slipped from her grip. He was touching her. Not the usual, I'm sorry-I-accidentally-brushed-your-hand touch, but more a sweet lingering kind of touch. His fingers were entwined with hers, and his thumb was gently brushing her knuckles.
"Griss, what…" Despite his constant request, she still found calling him Gil rather awkward. Not even after the earth shattering love making session they had had the previous night.
"Relax, no one will recognize us here." Grissom grinned under the blue baseball cap he was wearing and she felt every bit of a teenager. Her boyfriend was swinging her hand as they walked and they were eating popcorn from the same box. The only difference was that they were at the zoo and not on their way to see an 80's movie.
"Okay." She smiled, trying to diminish her nervousness, all the while glancing to see if someone they knew was there to witness their public display of affection. They might be far from the city, but there was a chance that God would want to have fun with them that evening and make Ecklie pop up suddenly in front of the lions' cage.
"Do you want to get back to your apartment?" Grissom asked, tightening his hold on her hand cutting into her thoughts.
"No." She was all against putting animal in cages, she was also afraid of bumping into their coworkers and reveal their newly established relationship, but canceling their first day out just wasn't an option. The childish spark in his eyes as he had asked her to accompany him to the tarantula exhibition was reason enough to stay. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little nervous."
"I know. I'm nervous too." Grissom leaned closer and whispered. "But let's pretend we're two ten-years-olds doing a school project, researching Marcus, the ten-year-old African giraffe." He pointed across the tall wooden fence.
She smiled as said giraffe swiveled his head toward them; the long-necked animal seemed to understand that Grissom was talking about him. "Okay, but when I was ten, I didn't let any boys hold my hand." She threw him a challenging look while leaning onto the fence.
"That's your problem Miss Sidle. When I was ten, boys were doing this." He wrapped his arm around her waist, gently pulling her into a kiss,
The kiss was warm and sweet, with coffee and mint as additional taste. Too bad it only lasted for a moment. He pulled away, still holding her hand. "Come on, the exhibition closes at seven." He glanced at his wristwatch while walking toward a tall building at the centre of the zoo.
Sara followed his eager steps, nodding every now and then as he deciphered which eight-legged bugs he wanted to see. They reached the first floor of the building in seconds, being greeted by a giant banner with "Insect Heaven" written on it. She poked at his waist, "And there was I wondering why you chose this filthy zoo instead of my comfy apartment."
A sheepish grin grew on Grissom's face as he opened the leaflet in his hands. "The tarantulas are on the second floor. They have ants and spiders on this floor. Oh look, that's an Isoxya Tabulata!" He practically dashed toward one of the cages.
Sara was about to tag along when she spotted someone standing in the corner. "Nick," she whispered; half of her wanted to bolt away, to conceal the fact that she was coming with Grissom while there was still a chance. Her rational mind stopped her dead in her tracks though. Nick was looking into one of the glass boxes, the palm of his hands pressed against the surface, his eyes a mere inch away from the glass.
"Nick…." Apparently Grissom had seen the man too. He slowly made his way, his eyes intently focused on Nick. His anxious expression made Sara wonder what had come into his view beside the jeans-clad Texan. "Nick, are you okay?" Grissom's question startled Sara as she hurriedly came closer.
The sight in front of Nick had her gasping. Right inside the glass box were fire ants, thousand of them, swarming about the little leafless tree or creeping up on the transparent wall. The image of Nick, being buried inside a Plexiglas coffin with a similar ferocious swarm made Sara shudder "Nick." She called again and was about to put a hand on Nick's shoulder but Grissom beat her to it.
"Nick, come on." Grissom tried to pull Nick away. From the play of the muscles on his arm, Sara knew Grissom had had to put a lot of strength into his movement.
Nick didn't budge, the pain and horror in his eyes forced Sara to reach for his pressed palms. "Nicky…" She pried Nick's palms off the glass and squeezed them gently into her own.
"I'm okay." After a fleeting moment, he finally turned around, letting Sara pull his body into an embrace. "I'm okay Sara." Nick pulled away. Sara didn't know if she was imagining it, but there were tear streaks on Nick's face.
"Nick, you… what…" Sara looked up to his friend anxiously; she had never known anyone she cared about looking as vulnerable as Nick did now.
"Are you really okay?" Although Grissom's question came out calmly his expression of concern betrayed his composure.
Nick took a deep breath, his hands fisted on his sides. "I'm really okay." His trademark smile chased away most of the gloominess that only seconds ago had been featured in his face. "I'm fine." He smiled again.
"Good." Grissom let out a heavy breath. "Come on; let's get you out of here."
"I'm okay, really. You guys just do what you need to do."
Sara saw Nick tilt his head to the side as if wondering why she and Grissom were there. Nick was a smart man and she was under no illusion that he could figure their little secret out. She glanced at Grissom, hoping he would do something to rescue the situation.
"Nah, I'm thirsty. Let's just get some drink outside." Grissom said as he turned around and for the first time since they entered the building Sara realized that they were not holding hands anymore. She felt sad for the lost contact, but proceeded to follow the men outside.
"I thought you were in Texas with your parents. Grissom said you still have one week of paid leave left." Sara casually asked Nick as they sat down at a wooden table, under a tree near a snack vendor.
Nick took a swig of his soda before answering, "I couldn't stay there. My parents have enough problems to deal with; I don't want to be…. their burden." The worry in his coworkers' eyes had him continuing. "Hey guys, relax. You caught me at bad time. I was just practicing in there." He nodded his head toward the building.
"Practicing?" This time it was Grissom who asked. The man had opted for a cup of ice-tea but didn't touch his drink at all.
"Yeah, practicing." Nick shrugged, "See, since the incident, I have this kind of ants-phobia; nightmares and all. It even got to the point when I had to call an exterminator
to squish them off my sugar jar." He tried to lighten the mood. "That's a huge flaw for the kind of job like ours. So I just try to deal with it."
Sara couldn't help but frown. "You should take it slow Nick." She loathed the fact that her friend was trying hard to fight his fear only a week after the life-threatening incident.
"I can't. Some men hide, some men run, some men just ain't me." Nick shrugged again
"Each one of us has our own way to cope Sara." Grissom added, squeezing Sara's hand under the table. "Maybe for Nick, fight is better than flight." He smiled as Nick nodded his agreement. "I don't believe Nick has gone to see the designated psychiatrist either."
Sara's eyes narrowed in disbelief. "Please don't tell me you haven't."
Nick grinned and the look on his face made Sara groan. "Great Nick, great."
"I will go see one when I feel like I need one Sara. Right now, I have my own battle to win. Besides, shrinks make me feel like I'm an amoeba under a microscope." Nick reached for the hand Sara was holding her coffee cup with. "Don't worry so much about me mommy." He teased, making Sara's lips tugged further upward.
"Don't you mommy me Stokes. I had to pry your hands off that damned glass."
"Hey, I was making progress in there. You should have seen me on my first day here, sitting like a stalker outside the building, afraid of getting in." He grinned again, but stopped as he spotted Sara's scowl. "Back me up here Grissom."
"I don't have a say about how you spend your spare time Nick. But if you want to clock in on my shift again, you will need to hand me the evaluation paper signed by the psychiatrist." He glanced at Sara who wasn't looking amused as he said, "Sara, sometimes the best way to show your love is to be supportive, no matter what your love one needs to do."
Grissom's words managed to calm Sara down, her frown slowly morphing into a weak smile. "Just remember me when you need someone to talk to, Nick," Grissom added.
"I will," Nick stood and gave Sara a final squeeze of her shoulder. "I'm done practicing for today. See you guys later."
Grissom nodded in response but Sara stood and pulled Nick into another hug. "You take care of yourself….Nick." She whispered in his ear.
"I am Sara, I am." Nick rubbed her back gently before turning around and walking away. "Wait a minute." He turned on his heels right in front of the peacock's cage. He frowned. "Have I asked you guys why you're here, together?"
Sara froze in her seat, while Grissom cocked an eyebrow at Nick. "I believe you haven't." Grissom's answer was so composed that for a moment Sara thought he would reveal everything to Nick.
"Is this some kind of date? Has something happened while I was on leave?" Nick gestured at them accusingly. "Does Catherine know this?"
Grissom chuckled. "Now it's time for you to relax, Nick. Sara's just helping me document my favorite tarantulas. You know how good she is with a camera." He motioned at the camera on the table, near his untouched glass of ice-tea. "Do you want to join us?"
Nick glanced back and forth between the camera and Sara' face; Sara could almost see the wheels in his brain working. "No. Sorry. You just look good together." He turned away again, leaving Sara and Grissom both breathing out sighs of relief.
They waited until Nick had disappeared out of sight before inching closer on their seats. "So I'm here because you need a photographer eh?" Sara glanced at Grissom mockingly, while hesitantly bringing her hand closer to his.
"No. You're here because you're good with the camera." Grissom winked and reached for the camera instead. "Come on. Let's go home."
"Home? I thought you wanted to visit your tarantulas?"
"We can see them another time. Come on, I miss you." Grissom had already got up waiting to pay for their drinks.
"Miss me?" She looked up at him questioningly.
"Yes, I miss you." He nodded and came closer, "I feel bad to say this. But seeing Nick the way he was today makes me..." He gazed somewhere above her head, lost in thought. "I just… I just want to hold you close Sara, to make sure that we have each other."
His words were somewhat simple, but the genuineness they brought had her heart clenched in awe. Truth be told, she knew that their sudden closeness was mainly a result of Nick's ordeal. It wasn't a thought that warmed her heart, but she was happy that Grissom was finally opened up about his feelings.
"Let's go home Sara." He tugged her up from the seat, gazing into her eyes while holding her hand in his. "Let's be together."
FIN
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