Grissom was staring at the words on the page but the letters had lost all meaning. They may as well be hieroglyphics, although the thought did hit him that he understood some hieroglyphics, maybe Chinese would be more accurate. Great, now he wanted Chinese. Perhaps one of the team would get Chinese with him later, he'd ask Sara. No. He couldn't ask Sara, they weren't talking at the moment. He didn't know why. He should fix that and then maybe she'd want to get Chinese food with him or do other stuff with him. No. Don't think about the other stuff, you can't do that with her. God, he was bored. He hates these meetings.
"Dr Grissom!" The sheriff shouted and Grissom suddenly looked up. He forgot he was in a meeting, Catherine and Harrison the days supervisor were looking at him barely managing to conceal their smiles. Ecklie just looked at him with pure exasperation and the lab director couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Grissom looked and shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry. I didn't get much sleep between the end of my shift and this meeting."
Atwater shakes his head "Now that Dr Grissom has decided to join us, we can move on. If you'd like to have a look at regulation 47, this concerns interpersonal relationships."
Right. Annual meeting to review lab policy and procedures, he remembered now. It was a bi-annual thing and it was one of those mandatory things he couldn't get out of by sending Catherine in his place (given that she was attending in her role as swing supervisor). He looked at the policy document in front of him.
"47.a. In line with the policy of the Clark County Sheriff's department staff of the Las Vegas Crime Laboratory may not enter into a relationship with a member of staff of a lower rank or grade if they are directly responsible for that persons supervision.
47.b. Staff of an equivalent rank or grade may enter into a relationship, but it must be disclosed to their direct supervisor and the Human Resource Department
47.c. Staff who are in a relationship shall not work on the same shift pattern
47.d. The above regulations allow for an exception to those who are legally married. However, any performance reviews must be completed by another supervisor if a subordinate's supervisor is their spouse."
Grissom just looked at the words on the page, the wheels in his head turning a hundred miles per hour. "The above regulations allow for an exception to those who are legally married."
"Does anyone propose any changes or are we happy to keep this policy in place?" Atwater asked and everyone shook their head except Grissom who was still staring at the words on the page. "Do not apply to those who are married" And an idea struck him and he began to participate more actively in the meeting suddenly looking forward to his shift tonight.
… … … … … …
"Greg, Sofia. 419 at Mandalay Bay." He handed them the slip and then looked at Sara. "Sara B&E in one of the suites at the Venetian but before you go I need to see you in my office." With that he walked out of the room.
"What did you do?" Greg mouthed at Sara from across the table. Sara only ever got summoned to Grissom's office when he wanted to have a conversation with her that was likely to make her angry.
Sara shrugged and drank her coffee before leaving the room and heading to Grissom's office steeling herself for whatever argument was coming her way. Things had briefly improved between them following her DUI and after her suspension but then he invited Sofia to dinner and this caused a brief return of the Grissom Sara Cold War. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
Grissom looked up at smiled at her "Hi." Whatever she'd been expecting it wasn't that, Grissom looked positively excited, she couldn't help but return the smile. Whenever he got excited like this it was hard not to let it affect her, part of being madly in love with him she assumed.
"Hi." Sara smiled back at him wondering what had him buzzing with energy "What's up with you? New racing cockroach?"
"No." He stood up and walked around his desk. "I was at the review of lab policy meeting earlier" He handed her the printed copy of the regulations with number 47 highlighted. He watched as Sara read it but instead of being happy she frowned.
"Griss why are you showing me this?" She sounded hurt and he realised she hadn't come to the same conclusion he had, she thought he was showing it to her to further explain why he could do anything about "this."
"No, no" He held a hand up to stop her before this escalated. "Read subsection D."
Sara read the part and frowned. "The above regulations allow for an exception for those who are legally married?"
"Yeah." He smiled at her "So what do you think?"
"About the regulation?"
"No. About us you know getting married?"
"Married? Grissom what are you on about?"
He shrugged. "We'd be in a relationship" Grissom looked at her and was suddenly nervous, maybe they'd both got it wrong? Instead of being in-love with him like everyone believed maybe it was just an infatuation and now faced with the prospect of being in a relationship with him she suddenly realised it?
"I never saw myself getting married." She added quietly and he couldn't help but offer her a sad smile. "Marriage is a big commitment. For one, people are supposed to be in love…" She loved him she knew that, but she wasn't sure about his feelings for her. "…and what happens if we split up? Divorce is a bit more than just a break up!"
He balked, he couldn't believe she was considering leaving him. "It's a bit of paper to make us possible." He tried, he felt differently but if he got Sara to agree to it then he'd be happy.
"Ok." She said, it surprised her. She's never really felt the marrying type and well maybe she could see some of the benefits. For one it would make it clear that he is hers, no more blondes taking him to dinner and two well, she got what she wanted which was him. He seemed genuine about this move and perhaps it would work out? "I'm saying yes."
"Yeah?" He smiled brightly at her. "Good, well, we'll meet here after work?"
"Sure." Sara almost wanted to laugh at the casualness of their agreeing to get married.
He reached out like he wanted to grab her but quickly pulled his hand back. "You've got a scene to get to. Should be simple, no doubles." He looked down for a second but looking back up and smiling brightly at her "We've got plans after work."
Sara went to walk out before turning "Is that why you gave me the B&E? To make sure I finished on time?" He simply laughed in response.
… … … … … …
"Hey." She leant against the door frame and he looked up and smiled. They were getting married this morning, it was ridiculous she knew but it was happening.
"Isn't in bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?" He asked
"I can leave, you can text…"
"I was kidding Sara." He shook his head "I uh, tried to fill in our marriage licence but I got stuck."
"Stuck?" She came round to the other side of his desk and saw the page he was looking at, it was all her personal details beyond her name and date of birth. Suddenly it hit her they know absolutely nothing about each other.
"Um mother's name Laura, her maiden name is Whedon. She was born in California." She watched as he typed the information in. "Francis Sidle born in Iowa"
"Thank you." He said quietly. "We can um pick it up in an hour." He laughed, Vegas really had weddings down to an expedited art. "Shall we get some breakfast?" Sara just nodded. They were about to walk out of his office when they bumped into Greg.
"There you are!" He smiled at both of them unaware of the monumental shift in their relationship. "I was just coming to invite you both to breakfast." And so instead of a small intimate breakfast ahead of their wedding they were sat in the diner with Greg and Sofia.
Finally they were able to leave and Sara followed Grissom in her car first of all to pick up their marriage licence and then to a small jewellery store to pick up wedding rings at Grissom's instance. Eventually they made their way to one of the least gimmicky wedding chapels in Vegas and paid for a simple wedding package with a hired witness and basic vows. When the minister said "You may now kiss the bride" Grissom looked at Sara and placed a simple kiss near the corner of her mouth disappointing both of them.
Sara stood awkwardly by him as they were waiting for a copy of their wedding certificate. "So uh would you like to come over for a coffee?" He asked quietly and she nodded.
… … … … … …
He unlocked the door to his townhouse and then turned and looked at Sara, was she expecting to be carried over the threshold? Was she expecting him to consummate the marriage? He was nervous, he clenched his fist to stop the tremor he was worried would develop and felt his fingers press on the gold of his wedding band and he found it oddly soothing. He looked at Sara who looked towards the door expectantly but any thoughts or possible conversation he was going to have was ruined by the scratching noise that caused her to look him strangely.
Grissom opened the door and was immediately jumped on by the over excited boxer who'd heard the door unlock but his human hadn't come in yet. "Down." Grissom told him although he didn't have any real firmness in his voice, the dog jumped down and he was surprised he'd listened to him until he realised that he was now sniffing Sara who'd crouched down to say hello.
"Hello" She smiled as she petted the dog who'd jumped up and put his paws on her shoulders whilst he sniffed her. "Who are you?"
"This is Hank." Grissom watched as she lit up giving the dog some affection.
"Hank?" She says happily but he can hear the question in her voice. "Nice to meet you Hank."
"Hammerin' Hank. The baseball player." He says nervously, Hank the dog had pre-dated Hank the boyfriend but he could see why Sara might be wondering how his dog got his name. "I've had him for about two years." He crouches next to Sara and gives his dog some love. "I'd had him for around a month when you met that Hank and by that point he'd already learned his name." Sara can't help but laugh, they stand up and Hank goes onto the small front yard to have a pee before running back inside. "I bet he's hungry." Grissom glances at his watch and sees that it's close to midday.
He goes into the kitchen and switches on the coffee machine and then fills Hank's bowl. He sees Sara awkwardly hovering in the doorway of his kitchen. "You can come in you know." She comes in and takes a seat at his breakfast bar. He slides the full coffee cup in front of her and watches her. "Sara, I know this is weird."
"Weird doesn't cut it." She snorts.
"Which is why I think I need to make some things clear." He says firmly and finally she looks up from her coffee mug and looks him in the eye. "I'm not expecting marital bliss, I don't expect you to move in here straight away…" She pretended not to hear the 'move in straight away' "…We're going to do this at our speed, we're married but we've not even had a date yet. This really is just a piece of paper to make 'this' possible…" He was lying to her and himself but he wasn't going to admit to that just yet. "No pressure."
"Ok." Sara smiled and felt a weight lift off her back.
They finished their coffee in a comfortable silence before Grissom opened his mouth again. "We have to tell HR and I'd like to tell the others but if you're not ready yet…" He trailed off.
"Maybe not right away." Sara replied quietly. "I just need a little time to get used to this." He nodded in agreement. "I'm going to go home and try and sleep before shift." She stood and went back to the hallway, giving Hank an enthusiastic goodbye and him a quick peck on the cheek. "See you tonight Griss." And with that she was gone.
The dog gave pitiful whimper as he looked at the door expecting his new friend to come back in, Grissom just looked at the dog. "Tell me about it buddy."
