"Magnificent Lasagne and Artificial Worms"
by Kristafied
Canon, what canon? Set post Grave Danger; mostly diverges from canon at that point.
Sara/Nick Friendship, becomes Snickers
Rating: M (for language and eventual smut)
A/N: Not sure if the timeline of Nick coming back to work and Warrick getting married matches up with how I have it here, but let's just roll with it for now. Also, I've never been to Vegas, so all locations are completely made up.
Disclaimer: If I owned them, I wouldn't have all this debt from grad school.
Chapter Seven
XXXXX
Thursday - Friday, Graveyard Shift
Although the car ride with Warrick had given them both a chance to cool down, Sara made a quick stop at locker and the ladies room for a comb-out and a reapplication of the lip gloss she'd lost in their impromptu makeout session, scrambling for her seat in the break room just as Grissom walked in with a grim expression and the night's assignments clamped in his hand.
It did not escape Nick's notice that Grissom avoided eye contact with both Nick and Sara, so he was flabbergasted to find himself paired with the man for a convenience store robbery that Grissom could have handled alone. When Nick asked, "What about the car fires?" Grissom merely responded that with no new evidence, the case only required one CSI to finish processing that which had already been collected, and Warrick was the lead on the case. "And Warrick, when you're done, page me."
When Nick looked across the room at Sara as they dispersed for their scenes or processing, her brow was furrowed and she looked worried. Nick made a point of walking past her in the doorway and managed a discreet squeeze of her upper arm and a quick smile, which she returned somewhat cautiously.
Nick followed Grissom's hunched shoulders to his SUV and the two men rode to the scene in absolute, painful silence. Nick noticed the waves of emotion radiating from the entomologist and after considering his options decided to just shut up and do his job, and let Grissom talk if he felt the need.
Not surprisingly, Grissom's pursed lips did not open until they arrived at the crime scene and he greeted Brass, at which point he became absorbed by the rhythms of his job and appeared to let go of whatever dark emotion had paralyzed him in the SUV. Nick was pleased to find that the two of them were able to work together harmoniously and when Warrick paged them a few hours later, they were already wrapping up their collection. Nick thought he would choke when he heard Grissom inform Warrick they would take a quick meal break and meet 'Rick back at the lab.
Grissom parked the SUV in front of the diner and requested the booth with the best view of the vehicle. They ordered, coffee was poured, and the two men faced each other directly for the first time all night. Nick bit his tongue to keep from speaking first; he forced himself to keep his expression neutral and meet his supervisor's gaze calmly.
After all, what the hell was he supposed to say to the guy? "Gee, Griss, I know you've been in love with Sara for years, but I've slept next to her twice in the past week, we've shared some of our deepest secrets, and we were necking in my living room this evening before work. Oh, and in case you were wondering, I'm pretty sure I'm in love with her, too. You snooze, you lose."
Nope. Best to keep his mouth shut and see what the man had to say. With Grissom you never knew.
He was spared a long wait. Grissom unclenched his jaw, took a deep breath, and proved to Nick that with Grissom, you truly never knew. "I first saw Sara when she was twenty-five years old. I was forty. She was sitting in the front row of a lecture hall and watched me like she expected me to start throwing thunderbolts at any moment. Her hair was short and wavy, and she had a streak of it dyed blue, which she'd tucked behind her left ear to try to make it less conspicuous.
"She must have asked thirty questions in three hours, and I could tell she'd restrained herself from asking more. The rest of the class would roll their eyes when her hand went up but no one confronted her. She was sitting by herself, and she'd put her winter coat and her backpack on the chairs on either side of her to stake out her territory." Grissom's mouth quirked up in his trademark wry smirk.
"After the lecture was over, she cornered me at the podium and interrogated me as I packed up my materials. She was the most energetic, awake person I'd ever met. I finally asked her to join me for coffee at the student union. She helped carry my slide carousels, and we sat in a booth in the late-afternoon light, so I could see that her eyes were the exact same color as my black coffee in its white ceramic mug. She was wearing a red sweatshirt and jeans, and she smelled like tea roses." He paused, and added an aside. "She changed perfumes a few weeks ago. I've been a little out of sorts ever since."
Grissom seemed to run out of fuel and sat staring at Nick, looking lost.
Nick waited a moment, and decided to pick up the thread. "I was six stories above her throwing dummies off the roof of a parking garage. I could see you talking to a woman but I didn't know who she was. When we were finally introduced, I thought she was a knockout but too serious for me. Plus, once I saw her with you, I figured you two were together, or going to get together."
Nick could think of nothing to say next that would not hurt Grissom in some way, so he stopped.
Grissom nodded. "I've been extremely selfish. I couldn't let myself have her, but I couldn't let her go. It was unfair to her and she deserves better." He ran a hand through his gray curls and pinned Nick with his intense blue gaze. "She changed perfumes after we dug you up – after she found you – and I realized that I had finally lost her." He looked down at their coffee cups. "It hurts every bit as much as I always knew it would."
Nick couldn't help himself; he knew Grissom's loss was his own gain, but it was still a loss. "Why didn't you ever...?"
"Do anything about it? Pursue the woman I love?" Grissom looked suddenly ten years older as he fiddled with his silverware, shaking his head slowly. "I want more for her life than what I would ever have been able to give her. I know my limitations, and I know I love her, and I know she loved me, and I know that while I may have been what she wanted," he visibly braced himself and Nick was shocked to see tears in Grissom's eyes when he looked up, "you are what she needs."
Nick was unable to close his mouth and slumped back in the booth, hands splayed loosely on the tabletop. "What?"
"You. You said you watched her with me. Well, I watched her with you. You relax her, which I frankly did not think was possible. You draw her out of her shell in a way that doesn't threaten her. You engage with the world in a way I do not, and you have the right kinds of scars. Plus, you were willing to let your friendship with Sara impact your career decisions. When I saw that neither of you re-applied for that promotion, I started paying closer attention.
"When she stopped smelling like roses the day after we pulled you out of that box, I knew that she was yours. Sara doesn't do anything accidentally, and while she may be more subtle about it than Catherine, her feminine sensitivity is alive and well and she couldn't allow herself to fall in love with you smelling like she did when she was in love with me."
Nick was saved from having to come up with a reply to Grissom's unexpected soliloquy by the arrival of their food. Grissom seemed relieved and dug into his salad with gusto. Nick shoved the pasta around on his plate for a few minutes before he ventured, "You just... you seem to understand her so well."
"I've studied her, Nick." Bitterness tinged Grissom's features as he continued, "It's what I do." Grissom put his fork down and regarded Nick seriously. "I'd like to ask you a favor."
"Sure, what?"
"I'll try to be a good sport about this whole situation as long as you try never to rub my nose in it."
Nick shook his head. "It's funny. This is the second time this week that one of you all has assumed that Sara and I have some big serious thing going. I care about Sara very much, don't get me wrong, but I'd hate for us to jinx ourselves right out of the starting gate because everyone was making assumptions." He held out his right hand, "I can promise you this: if things with Sara work out, I will try never to shove it in your face. Deal?"
Grissom's jaw was clenched, but he reached across the table and took Nick's calloused hand in his own larger, softer one. "Deal. And Nick, remember: only a fool would let her go."
Nick released his clasp and raised his coffee cup. "To foolish and honorable men."
Grissom started but raised his cup, and clinked it against Nick's. Nick picked up his fork and changed the subject to their case, asking just enough questions to get Grissom to relax.
