A one-shot I thought up while sitting at home sick.
Walls Coming Down
Walking down the dimly lit hallway of the Las Vegas Crime Lab Sara Sidle quickly made her way to the locker room. As she entered she opened up her locker throwing in her
things before slamming it shut and plopping down on the bench behind her. Emotions were swirling in her head as she thought about the case she had been working on. A young girl had
been raped and murdered and the more Sara learned about the case the sicker she felt. She had seen all kinds of different cases in the time she had been a CSI, but she just couldn't shake the sad feeling she got from this one.
She felt the lump rise in her throat once more as she recalled telling the girls parents their child was gone. A silent tear slid down her cheek only to be wiped away as she heard footsteps enter the locker room.
"Ah, Sara I'ved been waiting to hear the new information..." Grissom stopped suddenly when he saw the distraught look on Saras face. She looked up at him hoping he hadn't seen her cry. All her life Sara had kept a wall up, not letting anyone see her pain.
She learned to deal with it silently, rarely crying or showing emotion. Her childhood had been anything but happy, she remebered the fear she felt each day when she heard her father came home, the pain from each drunken beating she had recieved.
Nobody in Vegas knew about her past, never able to see behind the wall. "Sara is something wrong?" "Uh, no I'm fine." Grissom could sense Sara was anything but alright. "Sara, please tell me what's wrong." He took a seat next to her on the bench, hoping she would let him in.
Sara had always been a mystery to him, one he was still trying to solve. He'd lost count of how many times he'd caught himslef watching her, studying her like a piece of case breaking evidence. It was clear to him she was hiding something, he just wasn't sure what.
"Sara, please," he said again. "You want to know whats wrong Grissom?" "What's wrong is that somebody thinks it's ok to rape and murder somebody, what's wrong is that a family just lost their child, what's wrong is a father that nearly drinks himself to death, and then comes home and beats his family!" Sara stopped suddenly when she realized what she had just said.
Grissom sat for a moment taking in the last thing Sara had said. "Do you wanna talk about something?" "No," she said all too quickly, now he was desperate to know what had gone on in her past.
"Sara," he began, "you can trust me, I want to know why these cases upset you, maybe theres something I can do." Before she could stop herself Sara began pouring her heart out to the man she had admired for so long. She told him about her fathers drinking, the beatings she had recieved, and the trips to the hospital.
She cried, she yelled, she balled her fists as she told him about the day her mother had ended it all. She told him about the foster homes, she didn't even remember them all, and when she was done she looked at him like she was waiting for him to run away screaming.
To her surprise he stayed right where he was. After a moment of silence she spoke, "your the first person I've told about my past." He took in that information, somewhat shocked it was him she had told her darkest secrets to.
Without thinking Grissom stood up and wrapped his arms around Sara, gently rocking her as sobs racked her body. As she cried she felt the weight she'd been carrying around her whole life being lifted off her shoulders. She pulled back from Grissoms embrace, looking into his eyes knowing she made the right choice.
"Thank you," she said. "For what?" he asked with a puzzled look in his eye. "For being there, for listening." She smiled her gapped toothed smile at him, causing him to smile back. After removing themselves from each others grasps, Grissom picked up the file he'd been carrying, and before leaving the room he turned around, "remember Sara, you can always talk to me."
After watching him go Sara smiled to herself, happy with her new freedom. She realized this was the release she had been waiting for. She was done putting walls up, she was done keeping her emotions bottled up just waiting for the moment when they all came pouring out.
Walking out of the locker room with a new perspective she happily made her way to the breakroom for a much needed cup of coffee. Before entering the room she looked across the hall to see Grissom talking with Hodges. He glanced up, seeing her watching him. Looking her in the eyes he gave her a knowing smile before making his way back to his office.