Sara enjoyed the drive to Rico's, it was lighthearted and she loved how she could be herself without having anyone questioning her every word. She didn't really want to go out with everyone but she'd been trying to make an effort to do more outside of work, as Nick had suggested in the past. On the subject of Nick, it saddened her that he was attempting to make excuses as to why he wasn't meeting them tonight. On the rare occasions when they did go out, it was usually her, Warrick and him.
Warrick pulled over into a nearby parking lot and parked the car. As he got out, he ran to the other side and opened the door for Sara. She smiled.
"Ever the gentleman, huh?" She winked and exited the car, Warrick closing the door behind her.
"Well, you're Mrs Grissom now, I don't want Mr Grissom to kill me because you've tripped and fallen out the car!" They both laughed but Sara's demeanour suddenly changed. Warrick noticed and looked at her, "Hey, you okay?" Warrick tucked a stray hair of hers behind her ear.
She smiled sadly, "I'm fine."
"We don't have to go out if you don't want to, I don't want you to feel pressured…"
"No, no, I just…" Warrick could sense this was about Nick, "What did I do to him? Why's Nick so pissed at me?" What was Warrick supposed to say? He wasn't truly sure of the answer himself.
Warrick sighed, "I don't know. Truth is, something's been up his ass for weeks," He kept his eyes on her, "Listen, don't let him get you down. It's a friday night, let's make it one to remember!"
At that, she laughed, "Somehow I have a feeling this will be a night we're going to end up not remembering in the morning."
Warrick shook his head, "Nope, I'm staying sober and looking after you." Sara was taken aback by that. Seeing her reaction he defended his words.
"No, no, I didn't mean because of that!" Sara looked up at his tall frame.
"Warrick, it's okay. I know people know about my excessive drinking…"
"Grissom only told us because he was worried," Warrick could have hit himself when Sara spoke again.
"…Grissom told you all?" Her voice was quiet and Warrick almost struggled to hear her. Well done, Warrick…
Warrick ran a hand through his hair, "Uh…yeah, I thought you knew." It was true, he figured Grissom would have told her. Ugh, who am I kidding? It's Gris'.
She shook her head, that piece of hair falling again, "No. No…he failed to mention that…" It was clear that it wasn't the team knowing that hurt her, it was Grissom's betrayal. At that moment, Warrick's phone started to ring, it was Greg.
"Hey…no, no, we're outside. Okay, relax!" Warrick laughed and out the phone down. He turned back to Sara, "Greg's getting antsy…"
Sara grinned, "Isn't Greg always antsy?"
"Okay, I'll give you that one," They smiled at each other and for a minute, Sara forgot about Grissom. Wait…he's my husband, I shouldn't be forgetting him…She was surprised at the sudden betrayal of her own. They'd been married for a few weeks and she was already over it. That's not how marriage should be… Before she could ponder anymore she heard Warrick speaking.
"Helloooo, Earth to Sidle," Warrick waved in front of her face and cleared his throat, "I mean, Grissom." She inwardly cringed at her new name; Sara Grissom…Warrick's voice stopped her from having an inner battle with herself about why she winced at that name. Surely you should be proud to share the name of the love of your life…
"Sara! Are you alright?" Sara nodded and changed the subject.
"Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking that maybe we should go inside before Greg throws another hissy fit," Warrick laughed.
"Ah…I thought we'd raised him not to do that anymore," Sara laughed at that, a real laugh. She could always count on Warrick to cheer her up.
"Come on, let's go see the family!" They grinned and began to walk up to the bar and restaurant. It didn't take them long until they heard Greg's laughter coming from a booth to the left of the entrance. He was joined by Morgan, Hodges, D.B and Brass.
"Mrs Grissom!" Greg practically screamed it and Sara bit her lip to stop herself from telling him to stop calling her that. How could she? After all, that was her name now.
"I think you've had too much to drink, Greg!" Morgan laughed, "Hey, guys! You took your sweet time, didn't you? Where's Nick?" Warrick and Sara both looked at each other and Warrick could see she was in no mood to defend him.
"He didn't want to come," she said, simply.
"Oh…" Morgan was a little confused but she didn't press the matter, "Okay, my round then we gotta go!"
"Go?" Warrick questioned, gesturing for Sara to take the only available seat left in the booth.
"Yeah, Hodges and I have to go to a family dinner," She sighed.
He nodded, "Yeah…I'm starting to think that her Father dating my Mother wasn't the greatest thing to ever happen in the world. Still, though, at least you have a dashing step brother!" They laughed, apparently Greg wasn't the only one who'd had too much to drink.
"So, coffee for you then, Hodges?" She laughed and gestured for him to go and help her. When he protested with his eyes, she looked at him, "Hey! You're leaving too, I'm not paying for all these alone!" He sighed and listened to her and Greg made a whipping sound with his mouth. Everyone burst into laughter.
"You know it," Morgan replied before Hodges could get a word in. She led the way to the bar and asked the bartender for another round for everyone.
"So, Sara, how's married life treating you?" Brass asked her. She couldn't be mad at Brass, no matter how much the whole thing was beginning to irritate her.
"It's…Well, it hasn't changed," She sighed quietly. It hasn't changed at all…
"Oh, come on…you don't feel any different?" D.B asked. Warrick could sense Sara was feeling a bit tense and interjected.
"Okay, guys, enough questioning. I'm sure she gets enough of that from the husband!" Everyone laughed and nodded. He tried to make a joke and Sara knew all too well how true Warrick's statement was.
Morgan arrived alongside Hodges and handed the various drinks to people. She'd ordered them their usual and Sara was happy that she'd remembered the exact beer she liked to drink. After Warrick's admission, she wasn't even sure that she should be drinking it. Still, she was there to have fun.
"Okay, we've gotta go, Mister," Morgan turned from Hodges to face everyone, "I'm sorry, guys and Sara, congratulations!" She gave her a quick hug and made her apologies once again. The gang said their goodbyes and the pair left through the double doors in which Warrick and Sara first entered.
"Have you all eaten?" D.B spoke, taking a sip of his beer, "food's on me for anyone that wants it!"
Brass piped up, "Well, in that case, I'll take everything on the right side of the menu, I'm starving!" D.B laughed and Warrick and Greg began to look at the menus. Like always, Sara was too busy in thought about her already failing marriage to think about food.
Warrick finally made his decision, "I'll have the Mexican Mixer burger with fries and Sara will have the Viking veggie burger with fries as well."
"No, no, I'm not hungry but thank you," Sara protested.
D.B ignored her protests, even if Warrick hadn't ordered for her, he would have done it himself. He'd only been with the team a short while, in hindsight anyway, and he already knew Sara had to be persuaded to eat.
"I think I'll have the same as Warrick," Brass took his wallet out of his pocket.
"No, no, it's on me," D.B turned to Greg, "And you, Greg?"
"Um…I think I'll have what they're having, that burger sounds amazing!"
"Well, that was easy. May as well make it four of those 'amazing' burgers," D.B made the quotation marks with his index and middle fingers, "Back in a minute." D.B took another sip of his beer and then took the menu with him to the bar where he ordered everyone's food.
While D.B was away, Warrick, Brass and Greg were discussing their earlier case and how they was shocked that the wife had done it.
"I know! I didn't think she had it in her," Greg said.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," The men nodded and Brass and Greg continued talking while Warrick turned to where Sara was next to him.
"You okay, Sara?" Stupid question but it was the only one he wanted an answer to.
She nodded and whispered, "I just miss him…"
Warrick sighed, "You can fly out and see him again soon. It won't be long…" He placed a hand on Sara's. She turned to face him.
"What?" She had a confused look on her face.
"Well, Grissom…in Puerto Rico and—" Oh. Before Warrick could question her further, D.B came back.
"Apparently it's going be around twenty minutes or so, but for now…" D.B sat down and dealt five shots of tequila to each CSI, "Tequila!" He grinned.
"Sorry, Bossman, I can't, I'm driving," Warrick said.
Greg nodded, "Yeah, I shouldn't. I think I've had enough, if I drink anymore I'm gonna throw up!" D.B sighed, looking at Brass' face.
"Oh, come on, not you too,"
Brass smiled, "I'm sorry, I'm driving too. I was the one that gave you guys a lift!"
D.B sighed, "Well, if you guys aren't, I'm not either." He leant back in his seat against the cushion of the booth. Warrick could see Sara staring at the five shots on the table, her nails digging into the underside of her fingers.
Warrick tried to whisper as low as he could, "Sara don—"
Sara picked up all five shots and downed them, one after the other, not even batting an eyelid. D.B laughed, "Rough day, Hon'?"
She smiled, "Something like that." The shots seemed to have loosened her up a bit because she was smiling, real smiles.
"Excuse me, please, Warrick," Warrick moved so she could get out of the booth and sat where she was previously, "I'll be right back." Warrick watched as she walked to the bar, knowing she was going to order more to drink and knowing that if she went too far, she would end up drinking too much.
"Guys, I think I'm gonna go and help her," Truth is, he wanted to try and to talk her out of it. Walking over to the bar, he saw three empty shot glasses already and she hadn't even been gone for long.
"Sara…"
"Please, don't lecture me, Warrick. You wanted to come out to celebrate, so I'm celebrating," She must have asked for another before Warrick arrived because the bartender supplied her another shot of tequila, "Yay to being Mrs Grissom!" She laughed and downed her ninth shot, asking for another. Warrick paid the bartender for her and put an arm around her.
"I'm taking you home, Sara,"
"No, no you're not. I'm perfectly fine here!" She said, a little louder then she'd meant to. The CSIs looked over at them from where they were seated but thought nothing of it. Warrick sighed and held her arm being as gentle as he could.
"Get off me!"
"Sara, come on, you've had enough!" He loudly whispered. A tall man walked over to them.
"Excuse me, Beautiful but is this man bothering you?" He asked Sara. She turned and looked at the man before her. He was very attractive with short, buzz cut, brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He was wearing a white, patterned shirt with deep blue denim jeans and must have been in his mid forties. The look looked familiar. Sara smiled at him, feeling brave.
"Hey, sexy," Sexy? Warrick had never heard Sara call anyone 'sexy' before, "No, he's not bothering me but you can if you want to." She winked at him and in that moment, forgot all about Grissom and the bother with Nick.
"Wanna come back to mine, Sweetheart?" In that moment, Brass happened to look up and saw Warrick's angered face and Sara's swaying, she was struggling to stand in one position. He excused himself from the booth just as their food arrived, promising to be back in a minute or two. The other two CSIs sighed and began to eat, telling Brass to let Warrick and Sara know their food was here. Brass nodded and walked over to the man next to Sara.
"Is everything okay here, Sir?" Brass exchanged looks with Warrick and that told him all he needed to know. He didn't give him a chance to answer, "Look, I think it's time you leave before things get ugly."
"Things got ugly when you walked over!" The man shot back, emitting a laugh from Sara. The laugh hurt Brass but he could smell the tequila emanating from her breath, he knew she didn't mean it and right now, all he cared about was getting her home. Warrick dropped his hand from her arm and spoke in a soft whisper, trying to be the good cop instead of the bad one.
"Honey, we just want you to be safe, okay?" Sara looked at him and smiled sadly, tilting her head to one side.
"I haven't been called 'Honey' in so long…" That simple, small sentence hurt Warrick inside. He didn't know what Grissom was playing at but she was not happy. Sara deserved to be called 'Honey' every goddamn day! He knew she was drunk and it pained him to see her like that.
"Look, take a hike, she wants me," The man said.
Sara laughed, noticing that the shot she ordered had been sitting there for a while. She reached to the side in front of Warrick's chest and took the shot.
"Sara!" Before she had a chance to drink it, Warrick tried to take it off her and ended up knocking it out of her hand where it spilt over her black shirt.
"Thanks, Warrick!" Sara shouted at him. Lucky for them, it was getting later and the music was louder. It was that time of the night where the place was full and the music was at its loudest. The man looked to Sara's breasts through her shirt and saw they were wet from the tequila. He pulled tissue from his pocket.
"Here, Baby," He took the tissue and at first began to wipe her chest but this quickly moved to him groping her. Warrick lost it, pushed the guy and punched him square in the face. The man fell back onto the floor and all eyes were on them, even Greg and D.B looked at them and ran over to the scene. Sara held onto the bar, trying to prop herself up.
"You bastard!" The man stood and was about to take a swing at Warrick when D.B grabbed his arm.
"Listen, crime lab," He held his ID up, "If you want to be done for sexual harassment then carry on, if not, get the hell out of here!" He shouted the last bit.
Warrick rushed over to where Sara was with Greg and took her arm, holding her up. She seemed shaken by what had happened. They watched as the man left, everyone's eyes following him out.
"Okay, guys, go back to your drinks and whatever!" Greg called out to everyone. They immediately started whispering and going back to their previous activities.
"Hey, guys, I think I'm gonna take Sara back to mine. I don't want her to be alone tonight," Warrick looked at Sara against his side, it was like she couldn't even hear him.
D.B nodded, "Good idea, do you want me to get the food to go?" Warrick nodded, Sara needed something in her stomach, even if she was drunk. D.B rushed back with two bags.
"Thanks, Man," Warrick led Sara outside to his car, lifting her into the passenger's seat and buckling her seatbelt. He closed the door and ran to the other side to sit in the driver's seat. Sara leant against the window like a typical person who was drunk would do. As he pulled out, he asked her if she was okay and got no reply. He glanced at the corner of his eye, trying to concentrate on the road; she was asleep. Warrick smiled, hopefully she was peaceful even if it'd only be for thirty minutes or so.
While he was driving, he thought about contacting Nick. Nick would have been the first person to want to know about what had happened to sara at the bar but he couldn't bring himself to tell him right now. He decided he would contact him when he got back to his apartment. Right now, he had two things to focus on; Sara and driving.
Another five minutes later, Warrick's phone started vibrating. D.B Russell. Warrick answered it, quietly.
"Hey…No, she's fine. She actually passed out as soon as we hit the road," He smiled at her sleeping frame. Just then, he heard a noise.
"Mmnnn," Sara shuffled slightly in her sleep.
"What? No, sorry, I thought Sara spoke, you were saying…" Warrick thought nothing of it, until he heard Sara again.
"Mmphhh…" Warrick checked to see if she was okay and then looked at the road again.
"…Yeah, I'll do that. I'll see you guys tomorrow and I'm sorry about tonight. Maybe a bar wasn't the best idea…"
"Nicky" Warrick nearly swerved the car at that point and had to put all his focus onto not crashing.
"Hey, D.B, I gotta go, I think Sara's uh…waking up," D.B threw Warrick an 'okay' and told them to stay safe, "Will do, goodnight." He clicked off the phone, placing it in the cup holder next to him only to be greeted again with Sara's voice.
"Nicky…" Warrick looked over to see Sara biting her lower lip in her sleep, "Nicky, please…" Warrick couldn't believe what he was hearing and part of him wanted to wake her but the other part of him wanted her to be happy and blissfully asleep. It's blissful, alright… He smiled and turned the corner, driving down to where his apartment was located.
"Yes…Mmmnn…Nicky, I'm begging you…" Warrick pulled into his drive and could have sworn Sara thrusted her hips forward slightly. He took the key out of the ignition, placing them in his pocket and taking out another set. He moved to the other side of the vehicle and opened the door, picking Sara up.
"Nicky, no…I wanna stay with y—" She woke up as Warrick's hands touched her. Damn you for being a light sleeper, Sidle!
"Hey, sleepyhead," Sara's eyes went wide. Warrick assumed she was worried that he'd heard her and put her down gently.
She yawned, blushing, "Hey…" Okay, he didn't notice, thank God.
Warrick laughed softly and helped her out of the car, she stumbled slightly and Warrick caught her.
"Thanks," She smiled sweetly and held onto him, feeling a little less drunk than before. Warrick closed the door behind her and led her into his apartment. Before she could protest, he picked her up and carried her through a door, Sara saw a bed and could only assume it was his bedroom. He gently placed her onto the bed, moving the bed sheet so he would be able to cover her body after.
She laughed, "You're a bit forward, Mr Brown," He smiled, "Usually I like a guy to buy me dinner before he takes me to bed." Warrick grinned.
"Wait!" He quickly left the room and when he came back, he was holding two small, brown paper bags. He handed her one, "Dinner is served. Now I get lucky, right?" Sara laughed at Warrick.
"I'm not hungry, Warrick…" Even she knew she wouldn't get off that easily.
"Sara, please," He sat down on the other side of the bed with her, leaning against the pillow. If anyone else saw them here now, they'd think they were a couple but both of them knew that there relationship was much more than that; they were family. Brother and sister, best friends; they loved each other. Grissom had once told Warrick to look after her and that's exactly what he did and, if he was honest, he enjoyed having her at his place. They didn't get to spend much time together because they rarely worked the same cases. Warrick gave her the bag, "eat." He spoke softly, he really cared about her and it was rare that Sara felt that from people. She complied and began to eat. It was cold but she was too drunk to care. Warrick followed suit and ate his.
Warrick heard vibrating and turned to Sara as she removed the offending device from her pocket, throwing it on the bed, "You could at least wait for me to leave before you got your groove on." He winked and Sara laughed.
"Oh, Warrick…You never fail to cheer me up, you know that?" She turned to him, genuinely laughing.
He laughed too, her phone was still ringing and Warrick leaned forward mid bite. Gil Grissom. His laughter stopped and once he'd finished chewing he looked at her, "You not gonna get that?" She avoided his eyes and looked at her burger, quietly eating.
After a minute or so, she shook her head, "I'll call him tomorrow." Somehow Warrick knew that was a lie.
"Sara, what's going on?" He put his burger down, kicked off his shoes and leaned forward, crossing his legs, "What's really going on?" Sara finished off her food and also kicked her shoes off, turning on her side to face him, laying her head on his pillow.
"I don't know, Warrick. That's the problem…" She sighed.
"What do you mean?" He questioned, "Does this have anything to do with Nick?" Sara's eyes shot up, a little too quickly for her liking. She immediately shook her head.
"No, why the hell would it?" She mentally kicked herself at how defensive she sounded. Then it clicked. She filled the silence, "…You heard me, didn't you?" She blushed and looked down, pulling a feather out of the pillow.
Warrick nodded slowly, "Yeah…I uh…Well, it was a bit hard not to…" Her phone began to vibrate again, interrupting their awkward conversation. It was Grissom again, Warrick took the phone and answered it.
"Warrick!" Sara whispered.
"Hey, Gris'. Now isn't a good time, Sara's actually asleep…No, no, she wasn't. It's just been a long day and she's tired so I drove her home and I'm just waiting for her to drift off," Warrick was a pretty good liar, "Yeah, maybe call another day, it's been a long week for us all…Okay, will do. Later!" He clicked off the phone and placed it on the bedside table.
Sara sighed, "He asked you if I'd been drinking again, didn't he?"
Warrick nodded, "Is that part of the problem, Sara?"
She nodded, sadly. She had to tell someone, it was killing her not to, "Yes, it is." This change of conversation was definitely sobering her up, "anything I do, he assumes I'm drunk. I take him out to dinner, he stops me from having a glass of wine. We go to bed and I'm…" She blushed, "Well, he assumes I'm wasted then, too because let's face it, what girlfriend wants to make love to her boyfriend once in a while," She said, sarcastically.
"Wife," Warrick interjected.
"What?"
"Uh…you're his wife, not his girlfriend," He answered.
"Oh, yeah and that…" She sat up straight, leaning against the headboard, "I lied before…" Warrick tilted his head to one side.
"Lied about what?" He questioned her.
"I proposed to him…" Warrick raised an eyebrow, "You don't have to look so surprised," She managed a small smile, "And guess what he said when I asked him…" Warrick could guess what was coming but he let her continue, "'Are you drunk?' Am I drunk? Are you fucking kiddin' me?!"
At her cursing, Warrick tried to reason with her on Grissom's behalf, "Maybe he was just trying to help you, Sara."
"Help me?" She scoffed, "Funny way of showing it! What you did at Rico's was helping, Warrick. I mean, yeah, I was a little pissed but you helped and now look…we're talking and I'm not even thinking of alcohol…"
"Wait, are you saying that Grissom makes you think of alcohol?" Realisation crept over her.
"Well, yeah…I think I am," She continued, "You know that night I got pulled over for my DUI, I had asked Grissom out to dinner. He declined not so politely so what did I do? I had a few beers alone. Earlier today, I was feeling weird about being Mrs Grissom…" She rolled her eyes at the last part.
Warrick spoke his next words carefully, "Don't you think Grissom is the problem here and not the booze?" Sara looked Warrick dead in his eyes. Is he? Sara questioned herself but stopped; those thoughts were dangerous territory.
"Warrick, I can't talk about this right now," Damn it! Warrick knew he'd pushed his luck too far. Nevertheless, it was getting late and they both had work in the morning.
"Listen, I'm gonna let you get some sleep," He hopped off the bed, grabbing both their bags and putting them in the trash can.
"Oh, no, warrick, I couldn't, plea—"
"Hey, shh. No protesting, I'll sleep on the couch, you take my bed and I'll wake you up in the morning, okay?" She was too tired to argue.
"Okay…" She covered her body with the bed sheet, "Hey Warrick?" He turned, "Thank you…for everything. I mean it." Warrick smiled.
"Anytime, Honey," He grinned, remembering her remark about that word before. He turned the lights out and laid on the couch in the lounge. Sleep immediately over took him.
