I Do Not Own CSI
ATTN: This story is set at the end of season five, just after Grave Danger
"Hey Griss, what's on the board tonight?" Nick wondered as Grissom came into the break room with no pink sheets in his hand.
"As of now, nothing, so fini…." Grissom never finished his sentence as the sound of a cell phone echoed through the break room.
"Grissom. What? Just a minute." He turned towards the team.
"Guys, I have to take this call, Catherine you're in charge," Grissom said quickly as he disappeared to the confines of his office.
"I wonder what that was about," Warrick asked.
"Who knows with Grissom. Ok guys, if you have any pending cases get those finished and then start on your paperwork.
Sara….. Sara….. Earth to Sara," Catherine said, snapping her fingers.
"Huh, what," she said shaking out of her trance as she watched Grissom disappear.
"Where did you just go?"
"Nowhere, I'm going to grab some stuff from Grissom and start my paperwork," Sara quickly said excusing herself. The gang all watched as she walked down the hall and knocked on Grissom's door.
"Girl still has it bad." Warrick muttered out.
"Grissom," Sara called softly as she opened the door a crack.
"Griss? Gil?"
"It's ok to come in, Sara." Grissom replied softly.
"Are you ok?"
"Um, I'm not sure right now." Grissom seemed to be staring into space as Sara entered his office, closing the door behind her.
"What's wrong?"
"My mom died this morning."
"Oh god."
"Her neighbor went over there this morning; they were supposed to have breakfast."
"Grissom," Sara said coming closer to where Grissom was hunched over his desk with his head down, trying to hide the tears that were ready to fall.
"When Mom didn't answer the door or pick up the phone she got concerned," Grissom explained as Sara came over to grab his hand.
"She used the spare key she had and went inside. She found my mom in her bed. She, ah, she died in her sleep," Grissom choked out as Sara enveloped him in a hug, feeling the wetness of tears on her shoulder. They never realized that the team was watching them from the open blinds in the hallway.
"I wonder what's going on?" Greg asked.
"I dunno but I'm going to find out," Catherine said as she started to move forward.
"Cath," Nick said, grabbing her arm.
"What?"
"Maybe you should just give it a couple minutes, wait until one of them comes out before you start grinding for an explanation. I mean, look at them, Griss looks a little shaken up and Sara looks like she's trying not to cry. Just wait, ok?"
"Fine, fine. Ok guys, get on with your paperwork, we'll talk later."
"I have to go talk to Ecklie," Grissom said as he quickly wiped his eyes and separated from the hug that Sara had enveloped him in.
"Gil, I can…"
"I need to book time off and start arrangements."
"Gil, I can…"
"I have to pack, call the airlines and book a flight."
"Gilbert!"
"What"
"Let me help. I can go talk to Ecklie, and make the flight arrangements. Just go home and pack a bag."
"You don't have.."
"What did we agree on when we started seeing each other a month ago?"
"To let one another in, to help wherever and whenever we can."
"Let me help you with this. I can talk to Ecklie, and I'll make sure that I can come with you."
"Ecklie is not going to go for that."
"Then I'll go over his head. I'll figure it out, just go home and pack. I'll call you in an hour."
"Thank you"
"You don't have to thank me, Gil. You would do the same thing for me in a minute," Sara said softly as she came to embrace Gil in a hug again, smiling softly as she felt him breathe in her scent.
"Go home and I'll see you in a bit."
"Ok." He said softly. Sara slowly walked out of the office, wiping at her own eyes as she darted into the bathroom, with Catherine following behind.
"Sara, you ok?" Catherine asked as she watched the female wash her face.
"I've been better."
"What's going on? Gil looked a little worse for wear, too. I never got to ask if he was ok before he made a dash for the door."
"He has a reason to be upset, Catherine. His mom died."
"What?"
"This morning, in her sleep, peacefully. But Grissom and his mom were close, and it doesn't matter if your five of fifty, losing a parent still sucks."
"So I take it Grissom is going to be gone for awhile then."
"Yeah, I told him I would go talk to Ecklie for him, and you can expect me to be gone for a week or two, as well."
"Why?"
"I knew his mom, a sweet woman, and Grissom doesn't have a lot of family, it's always nice to have family around when you're mourning."
"Sara, stop rambling."
"Sorry"
"No need. I think what you're doing is great. Having a shoulder to lean on will be good for Gil. Go talk to Ecklie and get out of here. I'll let the guys know what's going on."
"Thanks, Catherine."
"Come in," Ecklie said as he heard the knock at his office door.
"Sorry to bother you, Conrad, but this is important." Sara said entering the office.
"What can I do for you? I expect you need something if you're coming to visit me and not Grissom."
"I do, and it's actually about Grissom," Sara said as she sat across from the balding man.
"Ok, I'm all ears."
"I need to book some time off for both of us."
"Sara, the lab needs you both here."
"The lab will be fine without us for awhile."
"Care to explain why I would give you both time off at the same time?"
"So Grissom can bury his mother and have a friend there to support him at the same time," Sara explained, shutting Ecklie up quickly.
"When did his mom pass away?" Conrad asked softly.
"This morning. Look Conrad, you need to give Grissom the time off. I know you don't need to let me go with him but Grissom honestly doesn't have much family and I would really like to be there, to be a friend."
"How long do you want?"
"Huh?"
"How much time do you want? I can put Gil on an extended leave, he can take a month and call me to let me know what he wants to do then. But how long do you want?"
"You're actually letting me go? You're not going to fight me on this?"
"Believe it or not, I am not a man made of steel and I'm not always out to get you. Losing a parent sucks and it's nice to have some support around. How much time do you need?"
"Um, two weeks. I can help Gil out with arrangements and all that," Sara said not realizing that she said Gil not Grissom.
"Ok, starting tonight you have two weeks off. If you need a few days more call, but I would rather not go longer than that with four people to nightshift."
"Thanks, Ecklie."
"Give Gil my sympathies."
"Will do."
"Gil," Sara called as she entered the darkened townhouse and getting no response.
"Gil, where are you? Gil?"
"I'm in here, Sara." She heard the soft reply as she walked up the stairs to his bedroom.
"Hey"
"Hey back. How are you doing?"
"I've been better. Did you call the airlines?"
"Yeah, the next flight out is tomorrow night, so I was thinking that instead of flying we can drive."
"We?" Gil asked.
"Yeah, Conrad gave me two weeks off and you are put on an extended leave. You're supposed to call him when you're ready."
"He really did that?" Gil asked as he sat up to lean against the headboard while Sara came to sit beside him.
"He really did. Maybe he's not the jerk we make him out to be all the time," Sara replied as she stroked Gil's jaw line.
"When do you want to leave?" Sara softly asked.
"When the sun comes up. Right now all I want to do is lie here."
"Ok, I'll go." Sara started to get up but Gil grabbed her arm.
"Stay, please stay. I know we haven't been intimate yet, but I would really like it if you-" Sara's lips stopped his ramblings.
"I'll stay, but I need something from you first."
"Anything"
"Something to sleep in."
TBC
Hey everyone! I'm back, i know this is a little later then i said but life has been crazy with a new job! I'm going to try and post a new chapter everyday, so stay tuned for more, i've already written up to chapter 22 and i'm still in the beggings of this story, this could be a long one!
Please leave a review with your thoughts, even a few words, let me know if you're interested!
Katie