SARA'S CHRISTMAS WISH LIST 2?
Spoilers: Should only be tidbits from aired episodes of season 6.
AN: Response to 12-18-05 Unbound Challenge where first and last lines are provided.
Disclaimer: GSR isn't mine, but I hope you enjoy this story anyway.
He watched, stunned for a moment, as Santa walked around the lab. Every year Conrad Ecklie picked an employee to hand out the county holiday cards and gifts. It was a task that Conrad considered a suitable punishment for one of several transgressions. Usually it
was one of the guys from day shift wearing the padded fur-trimmed red suit.
Except that this year Santa wasn't a jolly fat man, but a long legged brunette. He noticed she wasn't wearing the traditional Santa hat,
but a headband that dangled mistletoe in front of her. When she stepped fully into view he saw that Sara was wearing what had to be
the shortest fur trimmed red dress Grissom had ever seen. The outfit showed off her trim figure and long legs. His eyes followed
her as she moved from the AV Lab to Trace.
Grissom snapped his mouth shut partly to keep himself from making a fool out of himself. As the first stirrings of anger and jealousy
twisted in his gut he took a minute to examine his feelings. He was angry at Ecklie for forcing Sara to parade around work in that outfit
where she would be ogled by her male co-workers. Grissom doubted that he was the only one who would found that outfit a fantasy come true. He also admitted privately that he didn't like having other men see HIS SARA as a sex object. There was more to her than that.
Sara was the smartest, bravest and most loving woman he'd every known and she should be respected by her peers.
Yet as he watched her through the glass windows of the Trace Lab with David Hodges, he didn't sense any discomfort on her part as she
pulled a present from her bag and handed it to the tech with a warm and genuine smile. The pair chatted for a few minutes before she
gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, picked up her bag and exited the room.
Sara walked into the Ballistics' Lab grateful to be nearly done with this assignment. She laughed at Bobby D's teasing comments about her outfit just as she had with the dozen of other techs and CSIs before him. Ecklie considered this to be an odious task and she knew he had given it to her on purpose. If he thought she'd get angry and insubordinate enough over the task or the outfit that Grissom
couldn't protect her this time, he was mistaken. Sara wouldn't give him the satisfaction instead she accepted the teasing gracefully
until she found herself actually enjoying being able flirt shamelessly with her co-workers under the guise of spreading theholiday cheer. As she kissed Bobby's cheek and exited the lab she smiled.
Only one person was left for Santa Sara to visit and with any luckshe'd be able to cross another item off her Christmas Wish List.
After a quick stop at the locker room to grab her present for Grissom she made her way to his office. Knocking lightly on the door frame
she waited for him to look up before entering. "Have you been a good boy this year Gil?" Sara asked in the same teasing way she'd approached everyone else, though it felt just as odd calling Grissom by his given name as it had Hodges. When Grissom said nothing just raised an eyebrow Sara took a chance, shut the door behind her and crossed the room until she was half-sitting on thecorner of the desk nearest him. "You haven't answered my question. Don't you know if you've been naughty or nice? Well maybe Santa'sanswer has the bag." Reaching into the nearly empty sack she pulled out the county present which she set down in front of him. "Hmmm looks like the citizens and crime lab of Clark County think you've been good." Reaching down she pulled out the other present a slim cd case sized envelope. Sara made a point of reading the card. "To a Naughty Griss, in case you finally knows what to do about this." She set the present next to the first. "Merry Christmas Gil Grissom." Then she leaned in and gently pressed her lips to his. It wasn't much of a kiss, but she didn't want to embarrass either of them.
Grissom looked at the small thin present and asked himself the question that had haunted him since he'd first declined her dinner
invitation. Did he know what to do about this? The two presents sitting side by side reminded him of his own private on-going
battle. Did he take the risk? Which one was more important to him? The picture of the whole team that sat on his desk since Nick's
abduction caught his attention. He looked up to respond to her when he noticed she was gone. To an empty room he whispered. "Merry
Christmas, Sara."
TBC