October 2006
Grissom sat in his home office organizing some books and rearranging some files. He heard Sara come in the front door. Her light footsteps edged her nearer to his study.
"Hey."
He looked up at her and smiled, "Welcome home."
"I feel like I haven't seen you all day. You have fun playing tour guide to the college students?"
Grissom had spent much of that shift taking around local college students on a tour of the lab, PD, and autopsy.
"I did, actually. It's was nice to have students again."
"We all still have a lot to learn from you." She offered but he shook his head,
"Our team is a well oiled machine."
"It's been a while since you spoke at a lecture hasn't it?" He simply nodded in return.
"Maybe you should look into that. There will always be students out there, you just need to find them." She smiled softly and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Sidle."
"Sara, I need you to go to Desert Palm and process the girl from Warrick and Nick's robbery case. Looks like it may be linked to my DB in the casino parking lot."
"Sure thing. I'll head there now."
"Thank you, dear."
Later that night Sara strapped on a pair of athletic shoes and dipped them in dirt. She then proceeded to kick a dummy on the ground to recreate the shoe impressions of the attacks that had happened that night.
She kicked hard working up a sweat.
"Whoa! Pick on someone your own size!" She turned to see Grissom standing there smiling.
"You volunteering?" She pursed her lips, her voice thickly lined with sexual innuendo.
He arched his left brow, "No."
"Have you seen Greg? I wanted to congratulate him on his court appearance."
"Just sent him out to investigate that robbery."
She nodded and toweled off her neck.
"Looks like these guys don't take a break. Jessica, the girl, she's lucky to be alive."
"And that dummy is lucky to not be. Remind me to never get on your bad side." He smirked at her knowingly.
Grissom walked into the layout room where Sara had been held up all night.
"Is your phone off?" He approached her tentatively.
"Oh, I must of left it on silent from when I was processing the girl at the hospital." Her voice trailed off, taking in his appearance she knew something was up. His fingers touched together as he took small steps closer toward her.
"It's Greg... There's been—" Accident wasn't the right word here, "He just became the third victim of this night's crime spree."
Sara's heart stopped, she could feel the tears stinging in her eyes as they surfaced. "Where is he? Is he okay?"
"He's still at the scene, officers just got there... I don't know much else."
Sara pushed to her feet and ran past Grissom. Within seconds she was in her car and speeding to the scene. She haphazardly parked and ran out of the car toward the yellow crime tape.
She found Sophia, "Why isn't there a medic on Greg?"
"He's been stabilized. Sara—he's going to be okay."
She knelt down next to him. His face a shade of swollen purple, eyes clamped shut. Blood caked around his hairline. She touched his head gently.
"Sara..." His voice was small and weak.
"I didn't think you could see me."
"I can't." He managed through ragged breathing, "I know that Sidle sent."
"I'm going to take that as a compliment." She attempted a joke, but seeing him there like this was too hard to bare. She looked up to fight back tears.
"I scratched one of them. And you should check my vest. I think the same guy, sp-spit on me. One of the cars crashed into the Denali. I guarantee there's transfer."
She continued to stroke his hair softly. "You should process the scene."
"I came here for you, Greg."
Eventually the paramedics came back for Greg and loaded him into the ambulance. Sara promised him that she would come by soon to see him.
She dialed Grissom's number as she drove back to the lab.
"Grissom."
"Hey." Her voice was a bit shaky. She could hear him shuffling around and close what sounded like his office door.
"How is he?"
"He's going to be fine. He took a really bad beating though." She chocked a bit on her next words, "he's in a lot of pain."
"Where are you?"
"I'm pulling into the lab's lot now."
"I'll meet you out there."
She pulled into her spot and saw as Grissom approached. She got out of the car and he pulled her into a tight embrace. His hand on the back of her head, gently brushing her hair with his palm.
He knew how much she loved Greg and how much this was tearing her apart.
"I think it would mean a lot to him if you went to the hospital." Sara finally spoke. She could feel him nod against her.
"I'm going to head there now."
"I'll ride with you."
That night Sara and Grissom laid in bed feeling relief that Greg was going to be okay. He gently stroked her back as she sat up reading a book.
Ever since moving in together, the two had come into the new habit of leaving work on time and getting into bed at a reasonable hour. Both had a reputation, separately, of working too much and never going home. It was a nice change of pace.
Grissom had lost a lot of weight too. He was looking fit and younger and it was all thanks to Sara's presence in his life. She ate healthy, so he ate healthy. She'd go for runs before shift, so he would join her every once in a while. He was sleeping more and suffered from fewer migraines. He felt like a new man. He was happy.
Sara stood over the body in autopsy. Taking photos and collecting trace evidence from the victim who had been strung up on a cross in a church.
She heard the morgue room door open and did even lift her head.
"Were there any shrubs at the crime scene?" She asked, knowing it had been Grissom who entered the room.
"Two bushes at the entrance of the church. A row of four on the wall of the community center. The bushes adjacent to the statue of St. Jude." He continued.
She slowly stood up and turned to him, "Did you anticipate that question in order to impress me with your powers of observation?" She smiled widely, amused.
"Memory's a gift." He shrugged.
"Hmm..." She turned back to the body, "From whom?" The two had never talked about religion before, she realized, and was curious as to his beliefs.
He arched a brow, "Who do you think?"
"Well... I wouldn't necessarily call myself an atheist, but I am definitely not sold on the notion of a higher power." She spoke while still examining the victim's feet. "However," She continued, "I used to love the stories of the saints."
Grissom stopped listening, his eyes fixated on some post-mortem bruising patter he spotted around the victim's neck. He lifted his glasses to get a better look.
"This job certainly challenges your faith."
"Yes it does. But I have science."
"I believe we need a little of both."
"Sometimes, I think we made up God just to have someone to blame for our mistakes." She revealed, and looked back to him to see if any facial cues could let her know what he was thinking.
Grissom stood straight and quickly ran out the door.
"It's just a theory!" She called after him, but he was gone and she was left there feeling a bit confused.
Grissom returned about half an hour later to find Sara was still photographing and processing the body.
"Something I said?"
"No, Dear."
"I didn't offend you, did I?" She stood up straight to look at him, "Did I say something offensive to you as a Catholic?"
"I'm not really a Catholic anymore, you know. I suppose I practice a kind of secular Catholicism that involves ritualizing certain aspects of everyday life and viewing them with a spiritual intensity that they might not otherwise poses." He shrugged and added, "But I don't want to put too fine a point on it."
She listened and nodded. Smiling at his musings. Her attention was then drawn to the necklace he pulled from a box.
"And the... Rosary beads are a part of that?" She was trying hard to show understanding of his beliefs.
"This belonged to my mother." He then held the beads to the victim's neck to show Sara why he had left the room to begin with.
"Take a look at this pattern."
She leaned in close to him, nearly resting her chin on his shoulder. She then pulled back to grab the camera and snap a photo.
He loved to work with her like this. When no one was around, when he didn't have to worry about what he said to her or how he said it. When she could get get so close to him that her lavender sent could tingle his nose.
He loved her. He realized in that moment. He really, truly loved her.