Title: Survivor
Author: csiphile
Disclaimers: on the first paragraph
Notes: Ok, so this took longer than I was expecting, RL did indeed interfere with plans. By the end of the week the end will be posted, cause we are darn close to it! Big thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I appreciate it to no end!!! The song Sara is singing is 'Pretty Baby' by Vanessa Carleton. Love the song and the CD.
When they enter his office, Nick is already there waiting for them, ice pack and a damp towel in hand.
"I was beginning to wonder where you were." He says and sits in front of Sara, perched on Grissom's desk as the other two occupy the chairs. Grissom takes the towel out of Nick's hands and carefully wipes drying blood off Sara's knuckles. When the towel first touches her hand, she winces and slightly pulls back, but Grissom's firm grip doesn't let her get far. Nick is watching with fascination the interaction between them, and becomes increasingly uncomfortable as they ignore him, lost in their own Gil and Sara world.
"You did a nice job on this Sara. I don't think its broken, but you probably bruised the bone ." He says as he gets the last of the blood off, noticing her knuckles are scraped and now freely bleeding. Grissom applies pressure with the towel to stop the bleeding.
"Yeah, well, he started it." She says smiling at him. 'God, I could get lost in that smile,' Grissom thinks to himself. Meanwhile, Nick has had enough of being the third wheel and decides to let Grissom handle Sara.
"Well Gris, looks like you have everything under control. I'll be in the lab."
"Thanks Nick." Sara says sincerely and watches him shut the door.
Sara watches Nick close the door and then turns to face Grissom, expecting another lecture about her getting emotionally attached. But when she finally makes eye contact, he doesn't seem angry. She would almost describe his expression as loving, but that couldn't be coming from Grissom.
"What?" She asks, curious about what he is thinking.
"Nothing." He says and briefly rethinks himself. "Nothing." He says more firmly.
"All right, I was expecting a lecture though. But if that's what you where thinking, I will save you the trouble. I am aware what I did was stupid, childish and could have cost the department a lawsuit, in addition to ruining my career. But come on Grissom, you've never wanted to punch a suspect? 'Cause let me tell ya, it feels pretty good." She says and smiles widely at him.
He smiles slightly at that last part and removes the towel from her hand. The bleeding stopped, but now a nasty bruise is forming over her lower knuckles. Carefully he places the ice pack on her hand, and flinches slightly when she draws in a steep breath at the contact on her skin. Looking up at her again, they make eye contact and say nothing, the electricity again palpable in the air. Finally, Grissom breaks the silence.
"Keep that on there a while, take some Tylenol and you should be fine by morning."
"Ok, thank you Grissom. I am sorry, really. I won't be upset if you remove me from the case. I understand." She says and looks down at her hand, placing her left hand on the ice pack to hold it in place.
Sighing, Grissom looks at her again, not sure what to do. "I'm sorry, but you have to come off the case. I can't have you touching any evidence, it could be brought up later that you contaminated it." She didn't move, still looking at her hands, her face obscured by brown locks of hair that had fallen.
"Sara." He says, places his fingers under her chin and tilts her head up to him. He can tell she is disappointed about being removed. Carefully he pushes the errant hairs back behind her ear and marvels at the softness of her skin. "Had it felt that way in the hall?" he thought to himself. He couldn't remember.
"I know Grissom, it's my own fault. I understand, really." She says meaning every word, but still upset she would be unable to help catch Kevin. The more she thought about it, the more upset she became, but didn't want to break down in Grissom's office. She had done enough of that on this case.
Still staring at Grissom, her thoughts began to wander. She studied his blue eyes, the ones that exude intelligence to her, "Eyes are the windows to the soul," she thought and looked harder at Grissom, trying to read his soul. He is staring back at her with equal intensity, wondering if it is wise to think about Sara in a non-subordinate manner. He has feelings for her, and he can't deny the connection they seem to have with each other. A connection he is sure she can also feel. Should he act on those feeling and that connection, or be politically correct and ignore them? The question had been burning at him for months, since she threatened to quit. While Grissom is having his internal battle Sara has moved her eyes from his and down to his lips, wondering, not for the first time, what they would feel like against hers. But this time is different; they were sitting mere inches from each other, not across the room or even across town. Suddenly she really needs some air, the weight of the day and sitting this close to the man she wants more than anything is baring down on her and the room feels like it is closing in.
"I.I need some air. Ok?" She says quickly and stands up.
"Yeah, of course. Do you want to go for a walk?" He asks her, the conversation seems familiar to him, he just can't place it.
She smiles slightly at that memory but shook her head no. "I really need to be alone for a bit. I'll be fine, don't worry."
"All right. Take the ice pack with you and leave it on a bit longer." He says and stands, walking her out his office door.
"Yes sir." She responds military style and then smiles at him. "If you need me, I will be lowering my blood pressure in the parking lot. 'Kay?"
"Ok, just don't be gone too long." He says, knowing perfectly well that she won't be gone any longer than necessary. She nods and heads to the main door, walking to the back of the lot and sitting on the hood of one of the department's Tahoe's. It's quite a challenge for her to get up there with her hand, but she manages. Sara sits on the hood, leaning back against the windshield staring at the night sky. She trys to find the constellations to occupy her mind so it doesn't go down a path she would rather forget. Before she knows it though, thoughts of the victim flood her mind. how terrified she must have been. Sara understood all too well, but she is alive to tell the story. Grace Roberts isn't, she will never graduate, get married, have children or grandchildren, make a home, anything. All because of one man; one man who had to own her, control her and break her down into nothing to make himself feel better. Sara realizes she needs to get off this train of thought, she is getting angry again, which defeats the purpose of even coming out here. Taking a deep breath she looks up into the night sky and starts naming off star systems and stars.
"Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Polaris, Bootes, summer triangle, Taurus, umh, can't quite remember that one." She is talking aloud and is surprised when a voice asks her a question.
"Which one?" He asks, and gets up on the Tahoe with her.
Sara looks at Grissom surprised. She wasn't expecting him to join her, but it's a welcome surprise. "Oh, ah.right there, the brightest star in Orion." She says and points. He leans into her to follow her line of sight and she can smell his shampoo.
"Rigel." He says and leans back onto the windshield with her.
"Yes, thank you. It's been a long time since astronomy class." She says and smiles at him.
"You took an astronomy class?" He asks, moderately surprised.
"Yep, as a sophomore. It was really interesting actually, a lot of math and physics. I took it for fun." She tells him and turns back to the sky. "It's so peaceful, even in the city, staring up at the stars."
"That it is." He says without taking his eyes off her. Suddenly Grissom is very aware of his surroundings. They are in the back corner of the lot, in the last row facing empty land behind the station. No one could see them from the building, it is too dark where they are, the truck positioned outside the glow of two lights. The only reason he found her is he was looking. She looks beautiful in the moonlight, usually he sees her in the harsh fluorescent lights of the lab, and sometimes in the sun. Something about the moonlight though, she almost glows, her hair a deeper shade of brown and her skin is almost translucent.
"What are the three stars that make up Orion's belt?" She suddenly asks and turns to him, catching him in the act of watching her. She holds back a smile at the expression on his face when he realizes what she did.
"Oh, ummm. Let's see, there is Alnilam, Alnitak and." He trails off and she can see him thinking. Sara waits almost a minute before she becomes impatient and supplies the answer for him.
"Mintaka." She whispers in his ear and smiles.
He is surprised at how close she is to him, and while he enjoys her being there, this is getting out of control. That made three times this shift that she has made him start to lose control. He needs a distraction.
"How's the hand feeling?" He asks nervously and looks down. She looks at him surprised at the sudden change in conversation, but realizes why. She can feel it too.
"Oh, fine. It doesn't hurt as bad now, thanks." She looks down again at her hands and removes the forgotten ice pack.
Softly he touches her hand, almost as if to make the scrapes and bruises go away. He can't help himself, as much as his brain is telling him this is a bad idea, his heart says to go for it. For once in his long life, Gil Grissom is going to listen to his heart. Leaning toward her, he moves his hand from hers and up to her face, cupping her cheek carefully. Sara feels him move towards her, and is surprised when a hand comes up and touches her. They carefully move into each other and when their lips meet, it's like a lifetime of want and need are released. Initially the kiss starts out cautious, but once Grissom feels her lips on his, he knows this is right and kisses her more passionately. She returns the kiss just as fiercely, both of them forgetting where they are. Several minutes later, Grissom breaks the kiss reluctantly, though his hand is still making contact with her soft skin. For a moment they just stare at each other, not willing to let the feeling go. Grissom is the first to break the silence.
"I'm sorry." He says, not breaking eye contact with her. He sees the disappointment in her eyes and quickly continues. "Not for what I did, I will never regret that. For the timing. Probably in the parking lot at work after you just punched a suspect is not great timing."
She gives him a slight smile and nods. "It's ok, I could have stopped you. Besides, when do we ever do anything normally?" She says as her smile turns into a larger grin, revealing the gap in her teeth.
"How about I correct my mistake and you come over for breakfast after work tonight?" He asks, his eyes never leaving hers. He knows what he is doing.
"That would be great." She replies.
"Good. I think we had better get back inside. Wouldn't want anyone to think something is going on." He says and smiles at her.
Sara just nods and he helps her get off the hood of the vehicle, grabbing her around the waist and depositing her carefully on the ground. Impulsively Grissom looks around, sees no one, leans over and gives her another quick kiss, wishing he could just push her up against the Tahoe and continue what was started on the hood.
When they enter the labs again, Grissom directs Sara to find Greg and give him a hand as best she can for the remaining hour on the shift as long as the evidence didn't have to do with Lasho. Tomorrow he would reassign her to another case. As they part ways in the hall, Grissom gives her a knowing smile and she responds in kind. Mentally Grissom makes a note that if this continues they need to be more careful at work. If Ecklie ever got wind of anything going on between them, one or both of them would probably be fired and he didn't want that. He knew what the job meant to Sara, as well as himself. Not that anything is going on. Grissom just wants to be sure if something does happen between them, that they are mindful of the problem.
Grissom buries himself in paperwork for the next hour and a half, hoping that nothing comes of the incident in the hall. Even though Lasho wasn't going to press charges, that didn't mean Ecklie wouldn't suspend her anyway. Looking up and realizing the time and his promise, Grissom grabs his coat and briefcase, turns out the lights and locks his office door. Walking into the locker room, he finds Sara also collecting her things. Making sure no one is in the room before he speaks, Grissom breaks the silence.
"You ready? I have a promise to keep and breakfast to make."
Sara turns and looks at him, a large grin covering her face. "Sure am." She says and walks to him, resisting the urge to link her arm in his.
As they walk out together, only Nick takes notice of the fact that they were both leaving on time and with each other; a strange occurrence for both of them. Smiling broadly, he turns back to the paperwork he is trying to finish. Nick hopes more than anything that something will come of the little comments, touches and looks he had been noticing lately. He thought they were perfect for each other. They were both private, dedicated to work and seemed to have some control issues; plus he knew that no one else would put up with either one of them. A match made in the stars.
Sara follows Grissom to his townhouse, neither wanting to leave their cars at work for fear of questions. Even if it is only breakfast, they both value their privacy too much. The entire team didn't need to know what is going on in their lives, separately or together. Sara turns on the CD player in the Tahoe, she can't stand the radio, too much talking about nothing and not playing songs, and when they did play songs it was usually stuff Sara didn't listen too. Sara used music as an escape from her job, as a way to unwind, she didn't need to hear Britney Spears. As she waits for the song to play, Sara realizes she does have a diversion, music. Sara snickers at that thought and makes a mental note to tell Grissom. As the song starts to play, Sara quietly sings along to it, turning north onto I- 95 she lets her thoughts drift a bit. These past couple days had been hard on her, harder than she had ever imagined. It had been so long. She thought she could handle it; the emotions, the memories. Apparently not. Sighing, Sara focus' on the music and before she knows it, pulls into Grissom's driveway.
Getting out of the truck Sara meets up with Grissom at his vehicle and walks a few steps behind him to the door. Grissom holds open the door for her and smiles as she walks by, amazed that she is even there.
Sara carefully steps into Grissom's townhouse; she had been there once before, when he was suspended, but never since. She looks around and realizes the furniture had been moved. "Is that a new couch?" She thought to herself.
"New couch?" She asks and moves into the living room, taking off her jacket and laying it on the back of a chair.
Grissom is taken aback, and if she had been facing him, would have seen the look of shock on his face. "Uh, yeah. I got it a few months ago, the old one was getting uncomfortable. I'm impressed you noticed."
"Well the other one was.different. This one looks more like a couch and less like airplane seats." She says and finally turns to him, a huge grin on her face.
He shakes his head and heads to the kitchen after dropping off his briefcase. "Coffee?" He asks.
"Sure." She replies and goes back to looking at all the butterfly specimens on the wall.
A few minutes later he walks over to her position and hands her the coffee. Looking at the wall, he wonders which butterfly has her attention.
"Thanks. This one is beautiful." She says and answers his question. "The colors are magnificent. Such bright greens and reds."
"Yes they are. That's my favorite one. Omelet ok?"
"Yeah, that's great. Thank you." She says and follows him to the kitchen, sitting on one of the stools on the opposite side of the island. Watching him work, Sara is reminded of her mother cooking breakfast for guests in their bed and breakfast. Sara focuses on Grissom and before she realizes it, is softly singing the song she was listening to in the car.
"You light me up and then I fall for you. You lay me down and then I call for you. Stumbling on reasons that are far and few I let it all come down and then sung for you."
Grissom slowly looks up from the green peppers he is slicing and watches as she continues to sing into her coffee, he is pretty sure she has no idea he is listening. So he says nothing and lets her continue. He enjoys hearing her voice, especially when she is singing; it seems to him that's when she is most comfortable and focused.
"Pretty baby, don't you leave me I have been saving smiles for you. Pretty baby, why can't you see? You're the one that I belong to. I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm You're the sun that breaks the storm I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound As long as you keep coming 'round. Oh pretty baby.
And I know things can't last forever But there are lessons that you'll never learn. Oh just the scent of you, it makes me hurt. So havin' your love makes me better. "
Sara finally looks up and is reminded where she is and promptly blushes. She hadn't meant to do that, sometimes she starts singing and doesn't know why, and this is one of those occasions.
"Sorry Grissom." She says.
"No, you have a beautiful voice Sara, you really should sing more." He tells her honestly.
"Yeah, if you like nails on a chalkboard." She replies, repeating the words she said to Nick once, only this time, there is no belt loop to distract her from the look she is getting from Grissom. To her his expression is one of want, but she hadn't seen that in so long Sara had forgotten what it looked like. Suddenly feeling warm, Sara diverts Grissom's attention from her and onto the food he is making.
"How 'bout that breakfast? I'm hungry." She says and looks down at the assortment of sliced vegetables on the counter. When she looks back up at him, his expression is what she can only describe as amused.
"Almost done." He tells her and turns his back to put the omelet together in the pan. Not even five minutes later, a plate is in front of her.
"This looks delicious Grissom, thank you." She says and places a forkful of food in her mouth.
Grissom finishes making his and sits next to her at the island. Both of them enjoy the silence as they eat, lost in their own thoughts about where this is going. Sara had wanted to be here for a long time, but now that she is, a weird kind of nervousness overtakes her. A thousand thoughts swirl in her head. Is this simply a breakfast between friends? Or more? And if it is more, is it a good idea? He is her supervisor, at one time her teacher. Is this a mistake? Can she trust him? The last thought made Sara stop cold, she didn't mean to think it, it just came out. Of course she can trust him, she trusted him on a daily basis, and particularly when they were partnered on cases. But that is a trust of her physical well being. Now they are potentially heading into emotional territory, and could she trust him there? For a moment, she isn't sure. Sara can't believe she is actually debating this, but a little part of her is still that frightened twenty- something who had her trust shattered by someone she cared about. Someone she thought cared about her. It is hard for her to reconcile that Grissom and her ex-boyfriend are two different people, and she feels horrible about it. She has known Grissom for years, and he had never done anything to abuse her trust in him. But she has also never had a more intimate relationship with him, and that's what scares her. "No! I will not let this bother me one more minute. Nothing has happened, yet, so quit worrying about nothing." She tells herself and finishes up the eggs, pleased with her internal decision.
He watches her carefully as she eats, the expression on her facing changing by the second; he imagines she is thinking what he is; where is this going? He knows now what he feels for her. After ignoring it for so long, it took her threatening to leave to push Grissom into action. He finally realized he couldn't lose her, she meant more to him than anyone in his life. Scrutinizing her face, he is taken aback when her eyes suddenly cloud over with what he guesses is an unpleasant memory, it lasts several seconds before she returns to a happier expression and finishes her food. Grissom looks back to his own plate to avoid Sara catching him watching her. He finishes up the last of his eggs and looks at Sara, who is staring at him.
"Thank you for everything last night Grissom. I owe you and Brass big." She says and smiles at him. "God I loves how she smiles" he thinks for the second time today.
"No problem. Although we'll see what happens when Ecklie finds out. You could still be suspended." He says with an unhappy look on his face.
She picks up his plate, places it on top of hers and walks over to the sink. "I know." She says softly.
"Sara, you don't have to do that." He says as she starts washing the dishes.
"Yes I do, you cooked, and it's only fair." She says and gives him the patented this-is-not-debatable look of hers. So he watches her work, swiftly washing and drying the few pans and plates they had used. Something about her doing it is very comforting to him, like it is an everyday occurrence. After drying the pans, Sara begins to put things away, without even thinking twice she opens the correct cabinets for the plates and cups, the pans, and finally the silverware drawer. Grissom watches her without hesitation put away his things, knowing where each item goes, even though she hadn't seen him remove any of it. While that frightened him a little, it also embolden him to approach her as she stands rinsing out the sink. Coming to a stop inches behind her, he takes a deep breath and jumps into the deep end.
tbc....soon, I promise
Author: csiphile
Disclaimers: on the first paragraph
Notes: Ok, so this took longer than I was expecting, RL did indeed interfere with plans. By the end of the week the end will be posted, cause we are darn close to it! Big thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I appreciate it to no end!!! The song Sara is singing is 'Pretty Baby' by Vanessa Carleton. Love the song and the CD.
When they enter his office, Nick is already there waiting for them, ice pack and a damp towel in hand.
"I was beginning to wonder where you were." He says and sits in front of Sara, perched on Grissom's desk as the other two occupy the chairs. Grissom takes the towel out of Nick's hands and carefully wipes drying blood off Sara's knuckles. When the towel first touches her hand, she winces and slightly pulls back, but Grissom's firm grip doesn't let her get far. Nick is watching with fascination the interaction between them, and becomes increasingly uncomfortable as they ignore him, lost in their own Gil and Sara world.
"You did a nice job on this Sara. I don't think its broken, but you probably bruised the bone ." He says as he gets the last of the blood off, noticing her knuckles are scraped and now freely bleeding. Grissom applies pressure with the towel to stop the bleeding.
"Yeah, well, he started it." She says smiling at him. 'God, I could get lost in that smile,' Grissom thinks to himself. Meanwhile, Nick has had enough of being the third wheel and decides to let Grissom handle Sara.
"Well Gris, looks like you have everything under control. I'll be in the lab."
"Thanks Nick." Sara says sincerely and watches him shut the door.
Sara watches Nick close the door and then turns to face Grissom, expecting another lecture about her getting emotionally attached. But when she finally makes eye contact, he doesn't seem angry. She would almost describe his expression as loving, but that couldn't be coming from Grissom.
"What?" She asks, curious about what he is thinking.
"Nothing." He says and briefly rethinks himself. "Nothing." He says more firmly.
"All right, I was expecting a lecture though. But if that's what you where thinking, I will save you the trouble. I am aware what I did was stupid, childish and could have cost the department a lawsuit, in addition to ruining my career. But come on Grissom, you've never wanted to punch a suspect? 'Cause let me tell ya, it feels pretty good." She says and smiles widely at him.
He smiles slightly at that last part and removes the towel from her hand. The bleeding stopped, but now a nasty bruise is forming over her lower knuckles. Carefully he places the ice pack on her hand, and flinches slightly when she draws in a steep breath at the contact on her skin. Looking up at her again, they make eye contact and say nothing, the electricity again palpable in the air. Finally, Grissom breaks the silence.
"Keep that on there a while, take some Tylenol and you should be fine by morning."
"Ok, thank you Grissom. I am sorry, really. I won't be upset if you remove me from the case. I understand." She says and looks down at her hand, placing her left hand on the ice pack to hold it in place.
Sighing, Grissom looks at her again, not sure what to do. "I'm sorry, but you have to come off the case. I can't have you touching any evidence, it could be brought up later that you contaminated it." She didn't move, still looking at her hands, her face obscured by brown locks of hair that had fallen.
"Sara." He says, places his fingers under her chin and tilts her head up to him. He can tell she is disappointed about being removed. Carefully he pushes the errant hairs back behind her ear and marvels at the softness of her skin. "Had it felt that way in the hall?" he thought to himself. He couldn't remember.
"I know Grissom, it's my own fault. I understand, really." She says meaning every word, but still upset she would be unable to help catch Kevin. The more she thought about it, the more upset she became, but didn't want to break down in Grissom's office. She had done enough of that on this case.
Still staring at Grissom, her thoughts began to wander. She studied his blue eyes, the ones that exude intelligence to her, "Eyes are the windows to the soul," she thought and looked harder at Grissom, trying to read his soul. He is staring back at her with equal intensity, wondering if it is wise to think about Sara in a non-subordinate manner. He has feelings for her, and he can't deny the connection they seem to have with each other. A connection he is sure she can also feel. Should he act on those feeling and that connection, or be politically correct and ignore them? The question had been burning at him for months, since she threatened to quit. While Grissom is having his internal battle Sara has moved her eyes from his and down to his lips, wondering, not for the first time, what they would feel like against hers. But this time is different; they were sitting mere inches from each other, not across the room or even across town. Suddenly she really needs some air, the weight of the day and sitting this close to the man she wants more than anything is baring down on her and the room feels like it is closing in.
"I.I need some air. Ok?" She says quickly and stands up.
"Yeah, of course. Do you want to go for a walk?" He asks her, the conversation seems familiar to him, he just can't place it.
She smiles slightly at that memory but shook her head no. "I really need to be alone for a bit. I'll be fine, don't worry."
"All right. Take the ice pack with you and leave it on a bit longer." He says and stands, walking her out his office door.
"Yes sir." She responds military style and then smiles at him. "If you need me, I will be lowering my blood pressure in the parking lot. 'Kay?"
"Ok, just don't be gone too long." He says, knowing perfectly well that she won't be gone any longer than necessary. She nods and heads to the main door, walking to the back of the lot and sitting on the hood of one of the department's Tahoe's. It's quite a challenge for her to get up there with her hand, but she manages. Sara sits on the hood, leaning back against the windshield staring at the night sky. She trys to find the constellations to occupy her mind so it doesn't go down a path she would rather forget. Before she knows it though, thoughts of the victim flood her mind. how terrified she must have been. Sara understood all too well, but she is alive to tell the story. Grace Roberts isn't, she will never graduate, get married, have children or grandchildren, make a home, anything. All because of one man; one man who had to own her, control her and break her down into nothing to make himself feel better. Sara realizes she needs to get off this train of thought, she is getting angry again, which defeats the purpose of even coming out here. Taking a deep breath she looks up into the night sky and starts naming off star systems and stars.
"Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Polaris, Bootes, summer triangle, Taurus, umh, can't quite remember that one." She is talking aloud and is surprised when a voice asks her a question.
"Which one?" He asks, and gets up on the Tahoe with her.
Sara looks at Grissom surprised. She wasn't expecting him to join her, but it's a welcome surprise. "Oh, ah.right there, the brightest star in Orion." She says and points. He leans into her to follow her line of sight and she can smell his shampoo.
"Rigel." He says and leans back onto the windshield with her.
"Yes, thank you. It's been a long time since astronomy class." She says and smiles at him.
"You took an astronomy class?" He asks, moderately surprised.
"Yep, as a sophomore. It was really interesting actually, a lot of math and physics. I took it for fun." She tells him and turns back to the sky. "It's so peaceful, even in the city, staring up at the stars."
"That it is." He says without taking his eyes off her. Suddenly Grissom is very aware of his surroundings. They are in the back corner of the lot, in the last row facing empty land behind the station. No one could see them from the building, it is too dark where they are, the truck positioned outside the glow of two lights. The only reason he found her is he was looking. She looks beautiful in the moonlight, usually he sees her in the harsh fluorescent lights of the lab, and sometimes in the sun. Something about the moonlight though, she almost glows, her hair a deeper shade of brown and her skin is almost translucent.
"What are the three stars that make up Orion's belt?" She suddenly asks and turns to him, catching him in the act of watching her. She holds back a smile at the expression on his face when he realizes what she did.
"Oh, ummm. Let's see, there is Alnilam, Alnitak and." He trails off and she can see him thinking. Sara waits almost a minute before she becomes impatient and supplies the answer for him.
"Mintaka." She whispers in his ear and smiles.
He is surprised at how close she is to him, and while he enjoys her being there, this is getting out of control. That made three times this shift that she has made him start to lose control. He needs a distraction.
"How's the hand feeling?" He asks nervously and looks down. She looks at him surprised at the sudden change in conversation, but realizes why. She can feel it too.
"Oh, fine. It doesn't hurt as bad now, thanks." She looks down again at her hands and removes the forgotten ice pack.
Softly he touches her hand, almost as if to make the scrapes and bruises go away. He can't help himself, as much as his brain is telling him this is a bad idea, his heart says to go for it. For once in his long life, Gil Grissom is going to listen to his heart. Leaning toward her, he moves his hand from hers and up to her face, cupping her cheek carefully. Sara feels him move towards her, and is surprised when a hand comes up and touches her. They carefully move into each other and when their lips meet, it's like a lifetime of want and need are released. Initially the kiss starts out cautious, but once Grissom feels her lips on his, he knows this is right and kisses her more passionately. She returns the kiss just as fiercely, both of them forgetting where they are. Several minutes later, Grissom breaks the kiss reluctantly, though his hand is still making contact with her soft skin. For a moment they just stare at each other, not willing to let the feeling go. Grissom is the first to break the silence.
"I'm sorry." He says, not breaking eye contact with her. He sees the disappointment in her eyes and quickly continues. "Not for what I did, I will never regret that. For the timing. Probably in the parking lot at work after you just punched a suspect is not great timing."
She gives him a slight smile and nods. "It's ok, I could have stopped you. Besides, when do we ever do anything normally?" She says as her smile turns into a larger grin, revealing the gap in her teeth.
"How about I correct my mistake and you come over for breakfast after work tonight?" He asks, his eyes never leaving hers. He knows what he is doing.
"That would be great." She replies.
"Good. I think we had better get back inside. Wouldn't want anyone to think something is going on." He says and smiles at her.
Sara just nods and he helps her get off the hood of the vehicle, grabbing her around the waist and depositing her carefully on the ground. Impulsively Grissom looks around, sees no one, leans over and gives her another quick kiss, wishing he could just push her up against the Tahoe and continue what was started on the hood.
When they enter the labs again, Grissom directs Sara to find Greg and give him a hand as best she can for the remaining hour on the shift as long as the evidence didn't have to do with Lasho. Tomorrow he would reassign her to another case. As they part ways in the hall, Grissom gives her a knowing smile and she responds in kind. Mentally Grissom makes a note that if this continues they need to be more careful at work. If Ecklie ever got wind of anything going on between them, one or both of them would probably be fired and he didn't want that. He knew what the job meant to Sara, as well as himself. Not that anything is going on. Grissom just wants to be sure if something does happen between them, that they are mindful of the problem.
Grissom buries himself in paperwork for the next hour and a half, hoping that nothing comes of the incident in the hall. Even though Lasho wasn't going to press charges, that didn't mean Ecklie wouldn't suspend her anyway. Looking up and realizing the time and his promise, Grissom grabs his coat and briefcase, turns out the lights and locks his office door. Walking into the locker room, he finds Sara also collecting her things. Making sure no one is in the room before he speaks, Grissom breaks the silence.
"You ready? I have a promise to keep and breakfast to make."
Sara turns and looks at him, a large grin covering her face. "Sure am." She says and walks to him, resisting the urge to link her arm in his.
As they walk out together, only Nick takes notice of the fact that they were both leaving on time and with each other; a strange occurrence for both of them. Smiling broadly, he turns back to the paperwork he is trying to finish. Nick hopes more than anything that something will come of the little comments, touches and looks he had been noticing lately. He thought they were perfect for each other. They were both private, dedicated to work and seemed to have some control issues; plus he knew that no one else would put up with either one of them. A match made in the stars.
Sara follows Grissom to his townhouse, neither wanting to leave their cars at work for fear of questions. Even if it is only breakfast, they both value their privacy too much. The entire team didn't need to know what is going on in their lives, separately or together. Sara turns on the CD player in the Tahoe, she can't stand the radio, too much talking about nothing and not playing songs, and when they did play songs it was usually stuff Sara didn't listen too. Sara used music as an escape from her job, as a way to unwind, she didn't need to hear Britney Spears. As she waits for the song to play, Sara realizes she does have a diversion, music. Sara snickers at that thought and makes a mental note to tell Grissom. As the song starts to play, Sara quietly sings along to it, turning north onto I- 95 she lets her thoughts drift a bit. These past couple days had been hard on her, harder than she had ever imagined. It had been so long. She thought she could handle it; the emotions, the memories. Apparently not. Sighing, Sara focus' on the music and before she knows it, pulls into Grissom's driveway.
Getting out of the truck Sara meets up with Grissom at his vehicle and walks a few steps behind him to the door. Grissom holds open the door for her and smiles as she walks by, amazed that she is even there.
Sara carefully steps into Grissom's townhouse; she had been there once before, when he was suspended, but never since. She looks around and realizes the furniture had been moved. "Is that a new couch?" She thought to herself.
"New couch?" She asks and moves into the living room, taking off her jacket and laying it on the back of a chair.
Grissom is taken aback, and if she had been facing him, would have seen the look of shock on his face. "Uh, yeah. I got it a few months ago, the old one was getting uncomfortable. I'm impressed you noticed."
"Well the other one was.different. This one looks more like a couch and less like airplane seats." She says and finally turns to him, a huge grin on her face.
He shakes his head and heads to the kitchen after dropping off his briefcase. "Coffee?" He asks.
"Sure." She replies and goes back to looking at all the butterfly specimens on the wall.
A few minutes later he walks over to her position and hands her the coffee. Looking at the wall, he wonders which butterfly has her attention.
"Thanks. This one is beautiful." She says and answers his question. "The colors are magnificent. Such bright greens and reds."
"Yes they are. That's my favorite one. Omelet ok?"
"Yeah, that's great. Thank you." She says and follows him to the kitchen, sitting on one of the stools on the opposite side of the island. Watching him work, Sara is reminded of her mother cooking breakfast for guests in their bed and breakfast. Sara focuses on Grissom and before she realizes it, is softly singing the song she was listening to in the car.
"You light me up and then I fall for you. You lay me down and then I call for you. Stumbling on reasons that are far and few I let it all come down and then sung for you."
Grissom slowly looks up from the green peppers he is slicing and watches as she continues to sing into her coffee, he is pretty sure she has no idea he is listening. So he says nothing and lets her continue. He enjoys hearing her voice, especially when she is singing; it seems to him that's when she is most comfortable and focused.
"Pretty baby, don't you leave me I have been saving smiles for you. Pretty baby, why can't you see? You're the one that I belong to. I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm You're the sun that breaks the storm I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound As long as you keep coming 'round. Oh pretty baby.
And I know things can't last forever But there are lessons that you'll never learn. Oh just the scent of you, it makes me hurt. So havin' your love makes me better. "
Sara finally looks up and is reminded where she is and promptly blushes. She hadn't meant to do that, sometimes she starts singing and doesn't know why, and this is one of those occasions.
"Sorry Grissom." She says.
"No, you have a beautiful voice Sara, you really should sing more." He tells her honestly.
"Yeah, if you like nails on a chalkboard." She replies, repeating the words she said to Nick once, only this time, there is no belt loop to distract her from the look she is getting from Grissom. To her his expression is one of want, but she hadn't seen that in so long Sara had forgotten what it looked like. Suddenly feeling warm, Sara diverts Grissom's attention from her and onto the food he is making.
"How 'bout that breakfast? I'm hungry." She says and looks down at the assortment of sliced vegetables on the counter. When she looks back up at him, his expression is what she can only describe as amused.
"Almost done." He tells her and turns his back to put the omelet together in the pan. Not even five minutes later, a plate is in front of her.
"This looks delicious Grissom, thank you." She says and places a forkful of food in her mouth.
Grissom finishes making his and sits next to her at the island. Both of them enjoy the silence as they eat, lost in their own thoughts about where this is going. Sara had wanted to be here for a long time, but now that she is, a weird kind of nervousness overtakes her. A thousand thoughts swirl in her head. Is this simply a breakfast between friends? Or more? And if it is more, is it a good idea? He is her supervisor, at one time her teacher. Is this a mistake? Can she trust him? The last thought made Sara stop cold, she didn't mean to think it, it just came out. Of course she can trust him, she trusted him on a daily basis, and particularly when they were partnered on cases. But that is a trust of her physical well being. Now they are potentially heading into emotional territory, and could she trust him there? For a moment, she isn't sure. Sara can't believe she is actually debating this, but a little part of her is still that frightened twenty- something who had her trust shattered by someone she cared about. Someone she thought cared about her. It is hard for her to reconcile that Grissom and her ex-boyfriend are two different people, and she feels horrible about it. She has known Grissom for years, and he had never done anything to abuse her trust in him. But she has also never had a more intimate relationship with him, and that's what scares her. "No! I will not let this bother me one more minute. Nothing has happened, yet, so quit worrying about nothing." She tells herself and finishes up the eggs, pleased with her internal decision.
He watches her carefully as she eats, the expression on her facing changing by the second; he imagines she is thinking what he is; where is this going? He knows now what he feels for her. After ignoring it for so long, it took her threatening to leave to push Grissom into action. He finally realized he couldn't lose her, she meant more to him than anyone in his life. Scrutinizing her face, he is taken aback when her eyes suddenly cloud over with what he guesses is an unpleasant memory, it lasts several seconds before she returns to a happier expression and finishes her food. Grissom looks back to his own plate to avoid Sara catching him watching her. He finishes up the last of his eggs and looks at Sara, who is staring at him.
"Thank you for everything last night Grissom. I owe you and Brass big." She says and smiles at him. "God I loves how she smiles" he thinks for the second time today.
"No problem. Although we'll see what happens when Ecklie finds out. You could still be suspended." He says with an unhappy look on his face.
She picks up his plate, places it on top of hers and walks over to the sink. "I know." She says softly.
"Sara, you don't have to do that." He says as she starts washing the dishes.
"Yes I do, you cooked, and it's only fair." She says and gives him the patented this-is-not-debatable look of hers. So he watches her work, swiftly washing and drying the few pans and plates they had used. Something about her doing it is very comforting to him, like it is an everyday occurrence. After drying the pans, Sara begins to put things away, without even thinking twice she opens the correct cabinets for the plates and cups, the pans, and finally the silverware drawer. Grissom watches her without hesitation put away his things, knowing where each item goes, even though she hadn't seen him remove any of it. While that frightened him a little, it also embolden him to approach her as she stands rinsing out the sink. Coming to a stop inches behind her, he takes a deep breath and jumps into the deep end.
tbc....soon, I promise