Disclaimer: they're not mine...sigh...
They spent more time on the road in the next week than they had at each destination.
After a few days the seminars started to blend together in Sara's mind. Since Harvard they'd hit Yale, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Princeton, Columbia, UVA, Duke, Emory, and Georgia Tech in just over a week and a half.
Grissom was losing his edge—he wasn't as sleep deprived as usual, but he was beginning to show signs of wearing thin.
They were contemplating whether or not to take a few extra days when Sara got the call from a former acquaintance.
"So, it's another seminar?"
His wearied features contorted in a grimace.
She rolled over to face him—his eyes were closed, but his brow wrinkled.
"No, not really." She ran a cool hand across his brow and stopped to twirl a curl between her fingers.
He relaxed a little under her ministrations, but she could tell that his defenses were still up. They were both tired—she knew that much.
She traced a line from his hair line down his check to his chin and gently tipped it up.
Reluctantly he opened his eyes.
"It's a basic forensics consultation. Some of the higher ups at this university are looking at adding a forensics curriculum and heard that you were on the East Coast. Plus, I'm a friend of a friend of a friend, so…they figured they'd give it a go. No Natalie talk—and it's at a very small private university with a gorgeous campus that's just outside the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They're willing to provide everything—including an extra week of vacation in the mountains."
He grunted. "We'd have to clear that with Ecklie—and he's not too happy with me right now."
She smiled a secretive smile and rubbed his shoulder.
"No, it's all been taken care of. When my friend called the lab to get my cell number he talked it all out with Ecklie. We're in the clear. It gets good press for the lab—which Ecklie will take for himself. All you have to do is think about what you'd rather do: go consult with a small university looking at adding forensics to their curriculum and have an extra week's paid for vacation with me…, or hurry home to Ecklie, double shifts, and crazies." She smirked.
He pulled her closer and kissed the crown of her head.
"Well, when you put it that way…there's no question of it is there? I mean, really, I've already got my crazy with me."
He smiled when that earned him a playful slap to the chest.
"Only crazy about you."
A/N: it's short I know, things have been BUSY!!! But I wanted to post something. I'll work on more soon, I'm going out of town next week and hopefully that will allow me some time to really write. Thanks for your continued patience. Any encouragement is most welcome.
