Chapter Two
Sara was having trouble concentrating. After a shower and some coffee, she straightened up her apartment. She had what she needed for breakfast. She sat down and tried to read, but that was no use. She read the same page about 5 times and still had no idea what it said. She kept thinking about that amazing kiss she had shared with Grissom. Well, if you could call it just a kiss. Oh, how it was soooo much more. Her thoughts wandered to a time before her days as an LVPD CSI, when she and Grissom had shared something stronger. She longed for that feeling again, but in the end, Grissom wasn't able to offer her what she needed, so she settled for what he could give. After the moment they shared yesterday, she had a feeling he was finally ready to make a go of it again. Time would tell.
But, this was all going so fast. They really needed to have a talk. She hoped she could keep her hands off of him. Well, she had for 5 years so far, so one or two more days were plausible. She didn't just want a fling. She hoped Grissom knew that. There was so much to discuss. He had hurt her time after time in the past. Well, he would not be there for an hour, so she might as well try to calm down so rational conversation was possible. She turned on the TV, flipping from channel to channel and waited.
Grissom made his way to the front door of the lab without any hassles. He was so glad he got out of there without being stopped by Hodges or any other of the Lab rats. He had just gotten to his vehicle, when he heard someone yelling after him. CRAP!!
"GIL! Where you off to so quickly?" It was Ecklie.
"Uh, shifts over, Conrad, and for ONCE, I am leaving the lab on time!" He gave a him a sarcastic grin.
"Well, normally, fine, but we have a situation. I just got a call. There was a shooting. Multiple DB's. Its probably gang related, but the victims are all kids. They opened fire this morning at a bus stop. Two confirmed dead and six more wounded. Police are searching for the shooters. Schools and homes in the area are on lockdown."
"Shit. Ok. Well, guess we are all putting everything on the back burner and pulling a double. Greg and Sophia are still here. Did you call in Swing?"
"Yeah, Catherine and the guys are on their way. Day shift is just arriving and they are going out to the scene." He stood there staring at Gil, like he had something else to say. "Gil, I know Sidle's on leave, but we are gonna need her too. Can you give her a call? Tell her suspensions lifted, but she's treading on thin ice. One more complaint or problem, and she's gone, Gil. I mean it."
Grissom broke out into a triumphant grin. "Thanks, Conrad. Im sure she will be more than happy to help out any way she can. Like I said before. She's a good criminalist."
"Yeah. Well, meet up with swing shift in the break room in an hour." Ecklie turned and walked away back into the lab.
Grissom sighed. He was happy he was going to have Sara back, but not under these circumstances. He picked up his phone to call her.
"Hey, Gil, Grissom, Gil." She answered her phone on one ring. Caller ID, he guessed.
"I love to hear you call me that." He chuckled.
"Yeah?" She laughed. "You on your way?"
"Listen, um, Im afraid I cant make it." Great, he's regretting it already!
"We're pulling a double. Word just came in of a gang shooting. Multiple vics, young kids. They called in Swing. Its all hands on."
Sara was relieved and disappointed at the same time. "OH."
"And that means ALL HANDS. Yours too. Ecklie wanted me to call you in on this as well."
"What? What about the suspension?"
"He says your on thin ice, but you're back. So, meet us here in an hour."
"Ok, I will be there." she paused. "Gris? We can do this later, right?"
"What?" He was confused as to what she meant.
"US. Talking. Breakfast."
"Of course! Might just have to be in a couple days. But we will, I promise you."
"Ok. See you in a bit."
Gil hung up his phone and stood there by his vehicle staring off into space. He hoped Sara was ok with things. He was finally ready to discuss the possibility of them as a couple. He had so much he needed to tell her. He ached to hold her, kiss her. He would have to remember to keep his hands to himself when he saw her.
Catherine pulled into her parking space, having only had a few hours sleep. She was exhausted. But apparently not as exhausted as Grissom. What is he doing? She walked over to him. He was leaning up against the side of his SUV, holding his phone.
"Waiting for it to ring?"
Grissom jumped a little at the sound of her voice. "Oh, no. I just hung up the phone. With Sara."
"OOH?"
"Yeah, Ecklie's letting her come back to help out. We need every available CSI on this. We Cannot afford to lack on a high profile case."
"Oh." Catherine was a bit disappointed. "Well, then Sara's not being punished at all?"
"Catherine, I don't have time for this now." He let out a heavy sigh.
"Just don't expect me to work with her anytime soon." The anger was evident in her voice.
"Fine, Catherine, I will make sure to keep you two away from each other for a while." He let out a heavy sigh.
"So, why were you out HERE on the phone?"
"Oh, uh, I was just leaving, and Conrad caught me out here, so I called Sara"
"Oh" That seemed to be all she could say today.
"Well, shall we then?" She pointed towards the door.
"Yeah." He followed her in to the lab.
The next few days went by in a blur. There was so much evidence and countless interviews to conduct. The entire staff was off their normal schedule and most were only able to catch a few hours of sleep here and there. The mayor and several community leaders were breathing down the necks of CSI for answers. Things took time, but they didn't want to understand that.
Catherine was NOT happy that Sara was back after one day, and she made it abundantly clear in her attitude towards Sara. Grissom found himself glaring at Catherine on more than a few instances over the past few days. Sara noticed this and couldn't take it any longer. She pulled Grissom aside in the lab hallway as he passed her.
"Grissom, you have to stop this. I can handle Catherine. I can't handle you being so upset! Please, just let us work it out okay?"
He looked at her for a moment staring blankly at something behind her. "Fine. But let me know if she interferes with your work." He walked off towards ballistic in a huff.
Finally by Friday, things had calmed down. They had made two arrests based on ballistics and fingerprint evidence from the bullets. Sara was relieved to be driving home to FINALLY get more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep in an uncomfortable chair. She hadn't had time to talk to Grissom the past few days, except for their brief conversation in the hall. She really wanted to talk to him, but not today. SLEEP! Her body demanded it.
Sara stepped into her apt, threw her keys on the coffee table and started to undress as she headed to the bathroom for a much needed soak in a warm tub. A few minutes later she was sinking into the warmth, her muscles finally getting relief from the days stress. The mint shampoo she used seemed to calm her mind and relax her even more. Sara's mind began to wander to Grissom again. She sank deeper into the water and bubbles as she thought of that amazing kiss again. She felt like a teenager. Whenever she stopped thinking for more than a moment, her mind went immediately to that! Sara began to drift into sleep, so she decided she had enough bath time for today.
She grabbed her robe and headed for her bedroom, when she heard a nock on the door. She froze. Who could that be? Im so tired! I just wanna crawl into bed.
She went over to the door and peered through the peep hole. GRISSOM! What's he doing here now! I need sleep!
She opened the door, forgetting all she had on was a robe.
"Hey, Griss? What brings you by?"
"Gil, Sara. You can call me Gil." He smiled at her that oh so sexy boyish grin of his. "I like it when you call me Gil."
"Ok. Gil. What are you doing her?" She gave him her pursed lip grin.
"I wanted to see you." He had both hands in his pants pockets as he stood there looking her up and down. "Can I come in?"
"Actually, I'm really tired. I just want to sleep." She gave him a small smile.
"Oh. Ok" He had the saddest look on his face and gave her a pleading stare.
"UGH! You are horrible!" She opened the door wider and stepped aside to let him pass. "Come in for just a minute."
He stepped in but didn't go very far. He waited for her to shut the door. She stood just inches from him. God! She's so beautiful. Such sexy long legs. Wonder if she has anything on under there?Grissom shook his head slightly bringing himself back to the present. He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and snaked his hand behind her head, pulling her to him for a kiss. She moaned as their lips touched, which made Grissom move to deepen the kiss, running his tongue against her lip, begging for entrance, which she gladly gave. Sara moved her arms to his chest.
"Mmmmm...Gil." Sara panted. He started to rub his hands on her back and she suddenly realized her state of undress. She continued to kiss him for another minute and slowly pulled back. Looking into his eyes, his deep blue passion filled eyes, realizing they needed to slow down. They had so much to work through.
"God, I wanted to do that for the past three days" Grissom stroked his hands up and down her arms.
Sara smiled at him. "Yeah? Me too."
She stepped away from him then, making a little distance so she could think clearly.
"Im so tired." She sighed. He started to move towards her, but she put up one hand in protest.
"Stop."
He gave her a confused look. "What? Did I do something wrong?"
"No. No. I just...We need to...Look, we need to slow this down. Im so tired right now, I cant think straight. And we need to talk. I hate to sound cliche...but we need to discuss this before I go any further. I've been burned enough over the past five years. I need to take steps so that I feel comfortable with this. Then maybe I can get to the point where I can actually believe this is real."
"Sara...Its real. I know you have doubts, I don't blame you." He paced around a little, unsure of what to do next. "We can talk about this later. I guess I'm just exhausted too. This week has been...well...HELL."
"I know. I was there too." She smiled and then pursed her lips. He loved when she did that...so flirtatious, almost like a kiss.
"Yeah." He smiled at her. "I guess I should get home then."
He made his way to the door when he felt Sara's hand on his arm.
"Wait." She took his hand and pulled him back towards her. She reached her arms around him and hugged him around his middle taking him into a warm embrace. She loved the feel of him, taking in his warmth as she pressed against him. Grissom put his arms around her and pulled her close.
"This is nice." Sara said as she hugged him tighter. He did the same. They stood that way together for what seemed forever, each drawing strength from the other as they hugged. Sara was the first to pull back, looking into his eyes as he slackened his hold on her. She reached up and ran her hand along his jaw line over his beard. She reached up and gently kissed him.
"Night, Gil." She smiled at him.
"G'night, Sara" He let her go and turned to the door, walked through, flashing her a tight lipped grin as he left.
So Much for Friday.
A/N: Please Review! Hope you like this one!! Reviews make me happy!! :O)
