CSI: JUST ONE NIGHT
Author: Christiangirl177
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Summary: Dr. Gilbert Aaron Grissom finds out oh, so quickly that just one night with one Sara Sidle wouldn't be enough.
Author's Note: This is an A/U fic, as I have both Grissom's father and Sam Braun still among the living. I so loved the Sam Braun character.
Chapter Four: The Morning After
Grissom's point of view about his and Sara's romantic tryst continued, as he sat at breakfast with his parents, Gil Sr. and Victoria Grissom and his Aunt, Lucille Santucchi-Wainwright.
The Morning After
As the alarm went off, Grissom cringed within himself, knowing that this was the end. Grissom kissed Sara on the top of her head full of beautiful curls. He so wanted to keep her with him forever, but he knew that wouldn't be fare to Sara. She had the right to move on, it wasn't her fault that he waited too long to make his move on the woman he loved for almost forever.
Sara woke up to see two very sad looking blue staring at her.
"Good morning, Handsome," Sara began, sadly knowing that they would be parting ways, moving on with their lives.
"Good morning, Beautiful." Grissom replied, unsuccessfully keeping his voice from trembling.
"Well, I guess I'd better take a shower and get dressed," Sara began, "I have to run some errands before I go to work."
"What's the rush, Sara?" Grissom asked in total sadness. "I mean, why don't we at least have breakfast together?"
"Gil," Sara began calmly, as if she was speaking to a young child. "We've already been through this. We decided to move on with our lives, remember?"
"That was your decision, not mine." Grissom replied bitterly. "The only reason I went along with it was I wanted to show you how much I love you, but I guess my feelings don't matter, huh?"
"Don't you dare take that tone with me, Grissom." Sara began angrily. "You made your decision a long time ago when you made your confession to Dr. Lurie."
"Sara, I love you!" Grissom replied desperately. "I can't live without you, don't you know that? Don't you realize that you're my heart and my whole life? Don't you know that you're the reason I come to work? If I can't have you, I have no reason to stay in Las Vegas."
"Grissom," Sara began sadly, "you're words sound so beautiful, but they're too little too late."
"BABY!" Grissom cried out. "DON'T LEAVE ME, SARA BABY! DON'T LEAVE ME!"
"I, I can't, Grissom!" Sara left Grissom's home sobbing.
Grissom just couldn't believe what was happening. He couldn't believe that the woman he loved so much was leaving him, without as much as a second glance back. Grissom cried so much. He hurt so much and the pain in his heart was just too unbearable. He just had to get away from Las Vegas and Sara.
Later that afternoon, Grissom walked into Dr. Carvallo's office with his leave of absence slip in his hand.
"What can I do for you, Gil?" Dr. Carvallo asked.
"I need to take some time off." Grissom stated matter-of-factly.
"Gil, I can't spare you the time," Dr. Carvallo began. "We're short staffed enough as it is."
"If you don't approve my leave of absence, then I'll have to quit." Grissom spoke the same words Sara had spoken to him a few years ago when she threatened to leave the lab, and him.
"Okay, okay, Gil," Dr. Carvallo replied. "Just make sure you come back, the lab needs you, but most importantly, your team needs you."
"Yeah, well," Grissom began wearily, "you'll hire someone else and they'll forget all about me."
"Gil, have you really thought this through?" Dr. Carvallo asked in an attempt to get Gil to stay with the lab.
"Yes. I have," Grissom lied. He really didn't think this through at all, as he was totally basing his actions on his broken heart, and he knew it. But, he couldn't let Dr. Carvallo know the truth. With that, Dr. Carvallo reluctantly signed Grissom's leave of absence form. Grissom left Dr. Carvallo's office and the lab.
A few hours later, Grissom was finally back home. He was trying his hardest to stay away from his empty home. It had nice furnishings, but one thing was missing, and that was the love of a woman, his woman, Sara Sidle.
Just then, Grissom made a snap decision. He decided to put his massive home on the market. It really helped that not only was his neighbor was a highly talented real estate agent, but Mrs. Lyla Pinderhughes was one of the trustees of the Las Vegas Crime Lab. She and Grissom became great friends years ago when he first hit the lecture circuit. She considered Grissom her surrogate son.
Grissom decided to call Mrs. Pinderhughes regarding his decision to put his house up for sale. Why not ask her to sell his home, since she was the real estate agent who sold him the home in the first place? Grissom then dialed Lyla's number. Mrs. Pinderhughes picked up after the third ring.
"Lyla Pinderhughes here." Mrs. Pinderhughes responded into the receiver.
"Hi, Lyla," Gil began, "how are you?" Grissom began with small talk.
"I'm good, Gil," Lyla began, "thanks for asking. How are you?"
"I'm fine," Grissom lied.
"To what do I owe this phone visit?" Mrs. Pinderhughes asked. Grissom then spoke to Mrs. Pinderhughes about his desire to put his home on the market, as he had planned to either stay in Las Vegas or get a smaller home, or just to move back to Southern California to be closer to his parents.
Mrs. Pinderhughes said that she would be glad to represent Grissom as his seller agent.
Grissom was shaken from his reverie by Victoria Grissom's question.
"Gilly Bear," Mrs. Grissom began, "is everything all right?"
"Yeah, Mom." Grissom lied. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you barely touched your breakfast." Victoria replied. "I happen to know that blueberry pancakes are your absolute favorite."
"Oh, Mom, I was just doing some thinking about my future at the Las Vegas Crime Lab." Grissom replied in sign language to his Mom, but to himself he thought, 'It's a total lie, I just left the part about Sara out.'
"Okay, Son," Victoria replied, choosing not to call Grissom on his true thoughts. Since Grissom kept silent, she decided to continue her train of thought. "Son, remember you can always come to me or your father whenever you need someone to talk to. If you feel like you need to vent, you know where to find me. If you ever decide to go back to Las Vegas, you know you can always send me an instant message. No matter how late it is, I'll respond to you. You know that I'm a night owl." With that, Victoria got up from the dining room table, leaving Grissom with his many thoughts.
Back at the Lab
Sara was upset about Grissom leaving the lab. She knew that she had a large part in Grissom's decision to leave the lab. No matter how much she had been hurt by Grissom's indecision, she still should have given him another chance. Sara had absolutely no idea what to do. She knew whom she had to see.
"Hey, Cath," Sara began, smiling tentatively. " Have you got a moment?"
"Paperwork, Sara. Paperwork, Sara," Catherine began, pretending to have a pair of scales in her hands.
"You win, Sara," Catherine began smiling at the younger woman. "How can I help you?"
"Are you sure you have time?" Sara asked, eyeing all of the paperwork Grissom had left behind, which Catherine had the un-pleasure to do.
"Sara, I'm seriously trying to avoid Gil's leftover paperwork at all costs." Catherine replied.
"Well, Cath," Sara began sadly, "I think I'm the reason for Grissom's early departure from the lab."
"Sara, Gil only took a temporary leave of absence," Catherine began her statement of wishful thinking. Catherine didn't want her best friend of more than 10 years out of her life.
"No, Cath," Sara began tearfully, "he told me, oh, never mind." Sara could no longer keep her composure. She started sobbing uncontrollably.
"Sara, what are trying to say?" Catherine asked.
"Grissom once told me that if he couldn't have me, he didn't have a reason to stay in Vegas." Sara replied, sobbing.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sweetie," Catherine began soothingly. "We'll get through this somehow. In the meantime, why don't you take some time off? You know, like clear your head. Since it's really slow tonight, I don't see it being any problem.
"What about Ecklie." Sara asked.
"What about Ecklie?" Catherine repeated Sara's question back to her.
"You know he can be a pain whenever it concerns me or Grissom." Sara replied.
I'll handle him, don't you worry about him." Catherine replied. "You just go home and get some rest, okay?"
"Okay." Sara replied.
"I'm not kidding, Sara," Catherine began using a mock tough tone. "I want you to get some much needed sleep. Or else I'll have Sofia's friend, Betty Rodgers, bake her world famous scones. You do remember those, don't you?"
"Ugh, yes." Sara replied grimacing, remembering the fowl tasting rock like scones. "I was sick for days after eating those horrid things."
"Go home and get some rest," Catherine began, "and no watching the Discovery Channel. And absolutely, positively no Forensic Files, you got me?
"Yes, Mother." Sara replied, attempting to joke through her pain.
"Ha, ha, ha," Catherine began; glad that Sara was trying to find what little humor she could in her situation. "Very funny." With that, Sara left the lab and went home. Catherine went back to work, helping Nick with his and Sara's case.
On the next day, in the afternoon, Catherine got a call from Sara. It seemed as though Sara wanted her advice on what to do about Grissom. Catherine was really surprised that Sara wanted to confide in her about the situation between her and Grissom. Catherine was all ears.
"Hi, Cath," Sara began apologetically, "I hope I didn't wake you."
"Hi, Sar," Catherine began. "You didn't wake me, I've been up for a few hours. I took Lindsey out for breakfast. She got straight A's on her report card."
"That's way cool!" Sara exclaimed joyfully. "Tell her congratulations for me."
"Will do, Sara," Catherine began, "so, what's up?"
"Um, I really need your help with something," Sara began embarrassingly.
"What do you need me to help you with?" Catherine asked.
"Um, I need, Um," Sara began stumbling over her words. "I need some help with clothes shopping."
"Sure thing, Sar." Catherine replied happily. "Which store would you like to go to? Talbot's is an excellent choice for getting both elegant formalwear and elegant casual clothing as well."
"Um, well, um, I," Sara began, once again stumbling over her words.
"What's wrong, Sar, the cat got your tongue or something," Catherine replied in amusement, knowing that this somehow had something to do with Gil Grissom. "Spill it out, Girl. The sooner you get it out, the better it'll be."
"Kay," Sara began nervously. "It's like this, I want to try and, you know, get some kind of a sexy outfit."
Sara suddenly stopped talking, which made Catherine very curious as to what Sara was getting at. She also wondered what could have her acting so strangely.
"So you want something sexy, eh?" Catherine asked. "Well, we could go to Victoria's Secret at the mall…" Catherine would have continued, but was interrupted by Sara's laughing.
"What's so funny, Sara," Catherine asked, as she began to laugh herself. She was glad to hear Sara laughing, and it was oh, so contagious.
"Oh, I just remembered something I said to Grissom about Victoria's Secret," Sara replied, still laughing at the memory of Grissom having never heard of Victoria's Secret. "Um, I don't think Victoria's Secret will have what I'm looking for."
"Really?" Catherine replied in askance. "Victoria's Secret is the epitome of sexy. Why don't we at least check them out?"
"Um, I need, um, well um," Sara began, blushing a lot. She was sure glad that she wasn't talking face to face with Catherine. She knew Catherine would get a kick out of seeing her blush. "Victoria's Secret just wouldn't have what I'm looking for."
All of the sudden, it dawned on Catherine what Sara was really looking for.
"You're looking for raunchy sexy, aren't you, Sar?" Catherine asked
"Yes." Sara replied simply.
"Then have I got the place for you," Catherine began. "It's a little store in Henderson. It's called Debbie's Little Playpen. It's not a hardcore adult store; it's like an NC-17 store. Would you like to check it out?"
"Yeah, let's give it a try." Sara replied, a nervous tint to her voice.
"There's no reason for you to be embarrassed, Sar," Catherine said. Catherine and Sara made plans to meet for lunch and then go look for the clothing that Sara needed. They disconnected their call and set about to get ready for lunch and shopping.
As Catherine and Sara sat in a little café in Henderson waiting on their orders, they shared a little small talk to pass the time.
"I'm so proud of Lindsey," Catherine began, "she's really working hard to keep her grades up."
"That's great, Cath." Sara replied happily. "How's Sam Braun doing?"
"He's doing much better," Catherine began. "We almost lost him. My mom is taking good care of him. Lindsey is staying with them for a few days and I'll be joining them in about two weeks. Lindsey enjoys hanging out at Sam's ranch."
"That's really nice," Sara began, "The ranch sounds totally relaxing."
"If you'd like to come down sometime, I don't think Sam would mind."
""Thanks, Cath," Sara began, "I may just take you up on that sometime. It seems that ranch living has changed Sam."
"It truly has," Catherine began, "but I think almost dying had a lot to do with it as well." Just then, their lunches came and they both dug in their meals.
At Debbie's Little Play Pen
Catherine and Sara looked around the quaint little store. It had the feel of a country inn rather than an adult shop.
As they continued to look around the store, Catherine noticed that Sara's attention had been drawn to a mannequin in the back of the store. The mannequin had a French maid's outfit on it. Catherine wasn't the only one that noticed Sara. A short and stocky man was eyeing Sara with lustful eyes. He approached the tall and lanky brunette with a smile on his face and lust in his eyes.
"You see something you like, Miss," the man asked smiling deviously.
'Um, yes, sir," Sara began feeling totally creeped out by the guy. "How much is that outfit?"
"For you, Doll," the older man began, "I'll give it to you for half-price."
Upon sensing Sara's discomfort, the man explained more clearly for Sara.
"It's on sale," Honey Bunch. "Here, why don't you try it on, and give me a private fashion show. Yeah, why don't you and your sexy partner give me a private showing?"
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Sara asked as she dug in her fanny pack for her Las Vegas PD id.
"Yeah, I'm sure," the older man replied. "Why wouldn't I want to see you gals parading around in these sexy garments? I wouldn't be a red-blooded American man if I didn't want to see two sexy women half-naked before me, now would I?"
"Well," Sara began smiling a smile that a tiger getting ready to pounce on its prey would envy. "I'm Sara Sidle and this is my partner, Catherine Willows, and we're criminalists with the Las Vegas PD Crime Lab." With that they both showed the rotund man their ids. The man apologized to the two lovely CSIs, profusely begging them not to tell his wife of his indiscretions. Debbie, the owner of the store was his wife.
Sara finally decided to get the French maid's outfit and some aromatic body oils and perfumes. Catherine also got some perfume and body oils for herself. The sales clerk was so afraid that the CSI ladies would tell his wife about his actions toward them, that he gave them a deep discount on everything they purchased.
After they finished shopping, Catherine and Sara went there separate ways.
As Grissom lay on the couch watching a special on the mating rituals of the household spider, his cell phone rang. He was really surprised, but when he saw the person's name and number, he was totally shocked. Grissom answered his phone on the fourth ring.
"Hello?" Grissom responded into the cell phone receiver in askance.
"Gil?" Catherine replied in askance.
"Yeah, Cath," Grissom replied in shock. "What's up?"
"Well, Gil, we need your help," Catherine began. "We have a body that has lots of bugs on it. And before you ask, yes we tried to get a few entomologists to consult for us, but it seems they're either on a high profile case themselves or are busy teaching seminars and couldn't get away."
'It's not a total lie,' Catherine thought to herself, 'it's the only way I can get him back to Vegas, and besides we do need his help with this case.'
"Look, Cath," Grissom began, bringing Catherine out of her thought, "I haven't decided whether or not I'm staying on at the lab."
"Well, Griss, we need you," Catherine began, "can't you decide what you plan to do after you consult on this case for us?"
"Yeah, I guess I can." Grissom replied with a sigh.
With that, Grissom and Catherine disconnected their call. Grissom then went to look for his mother to inform her that he would be leaving the next day and heading back to Las Vegas.
Grissom was so sad, as he didn't want to go back to the empty and lonely existence that he led back in Las Vegas.
"Mom," Grissom signed with as strange light in his eyes. "The lab needs me to consult on a case, so I'll be catching the first flight out of Vegas tomorrow morning."
"Okay, Son," Victoria began in sign. "Are you sure you're up to it?"
"Well, Mom," Grissom began sadly. "Whether I'm ready or not, doesn't really matter. Duty calls, and I don't want to let my team down."
"Did you hear what you just said?" Victoria asked smiling. Her grown up 'Baby Boy' was back.
"What?" Grissom replied in askance.
"You said that you didn't want to let 'your' team down," Victoria began signing and smiling. "You said your team, not the team. Gil, your life is in Las Vegas and not here in Santa Monica."
"Are you kicking me out, Mom?" Grissom asked in a mock sad voice, truly knowing that he belonged back at the Las Vegas Crime Lab.
"No, silly," Victoria spoke and signed, laughing at her son. She was truly happy to see that he was coming around. "If you'd like me and your Dad to come to Las Vegas to stay with you for a little while, we'll be glad to do it."
"I'd like that, Mom." Grissom replied, glad that he wouldn't be alone in the larger than life house. With that, Mother and Son discussed their plans with the Senior Gil Grissom. Gil Grissom Sr. was more than glad to get away from Southern California a little while. Grissom's Aunt Lucille couldn't make the trip. She was headed for a cruise to the Caribbean.
Grissom called Catherine to let know that he would be back in Vegas the next morning. He gave her his flight number and estimated time of arrival. He also informed her that his parents would be with him.
"Thanks, Gil," Catherine said. "Oh, and Gil have a great flight. I'll see you tomorrow morning.
"Thanks, Catherine." Grissom replied. With that, they disconnected their call.
Catherine called the lab to inform the team of Grissom's return. She also let them know that she wasn't sure if Grissom was back permanently.
Catherine called Sara to let her know personally that Grissom was coming back to Vegas early in the morning.
"Hey, Sar," Catherine began. "I thought you'd like to know that Grissom will be back early in the morning."
"Really?" Sara asked with a hopeful, but strange tone in her voice. "Cath, I think that God is allowing me a second chance with Gil."
"Sar, you sound kind of funny, what gives?" Catherine asked in concern.
"Well, uh, you see," Sara began, "it's like this." Sara then began to tell Catherine how she had moved some of her furniture into Gil's house and how she rearranged his house and put that butt-ugly black sofa down in his finished basement. Sara went on to tell Catherine that she had access to Gil's spare key. She also mentioned that she planned to make Grissom a vegetarian dinner wearing the French maid's outfit.
"Make sure you you're done cooking before Grissom gets there, Sar," Catherine replied. "Because, when Grissom sees you in that sexy little outfit, he's not going to be able to control himself, and food will be the furthest thing from his mind."
"I'll make sure dinner is done before he gets home." Sara replied simply. "What time is his flight due in?"
"He'll be in around 7 in the morning." Catherine replied. "Grissom's parents will be coming with him."
"That's nice." Sara replied.
"Grissom will be heading straight to the lab," Catherine began, "so that'll give you some time to have dinner done before he gets home and sees you in that outfit." With that, Catherine and Sara disconnected their call.
Grissom finished making all of the arrangements with the airline.
Grissom and his parents started packing for their trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. And although Grissom was nervous about going back Las Vega, he was also excited at the same time. He had planned to avoid Sara Sidle at every cost. He wasn't going to put his heart through the pain he put it through a short time before.
'Since Sara wants to move on with her life,' Grissom began in thought to himself, 'then so be it. I'll just move on with my life.'
Just then, Grissom's cell phone started ringing. He answered it on the third ring.
"Grissom here." Grissom replied into the cell phone receiver.
"Hey, Gil," Catherine began. "There's been a change of plans. Um, you need to go home alone. Your parents will be staying with me the first night."
"Why?" Grissom asked, not wanting to be alone in his home. "I don't want to be alone in that house, that's why I asked my parents to come to Vegas with me. I don't want to be lonely. You of all people should have known that!"
"Gil, I know you don't want to be lonely," Catherine began trying to calm Grissom down, "but it has to be done this way. You'll have to trust me on this one. Your parents will stay with me tomorrow night, okay?"
"Yeah," Grissom replied sadly.
"You'll be glad you listened to me," Catherine began, "trust me, Gil." With that, Grissom and Catherine disconnected their call. Grissom went to tell his parents of the changes in their plans. Grissom's parents didn't seem too surprised with the changes in their plans, and that kind of surprised him. Nevertheless, he didn't think anything of it, which pleased his parents. They then went to bed.
Grissom and his parents headed off to the airport, being dropped off by his Aunt Lucille.
A few hours later found the Grissoms' flight landing at McCarran International Airport. Grissom felt like butterflies were having a world war in his stomach. He was so nervous about being back in Las Vegas. He planned to avoid Sara at all costs. He did not want to see her. He knew his heart wouldn't be able to take another setback.
TBC