Final part.. thanks for all the feedback! Notes and disclaimers in part one
The Longest Journey Part Three
***
The ringing of her phone broke through a dreamless sleep, and Sara pried her eyes open with difficulty, staying still at first as she tried to figure out from which direction the ringing was coming. Once she realised that it was on the table at the opposite side of the couch, she stretched out a hand to get it, bracing herself with her other arm. It was only when her pillow grunted in surprise that she realised that Warrick was still there, and she bit her lip, looking up at him, his eyes still closed, but his brow furrowed. Somewhere in the night, he'd slipped to one side, and was now half-lying across the couch, and he'd managed to bring her with him, so that she was lying more or less on top of him. She supposed that she should be embarrassed about that, flustered by their close physical proximity, but in truth, she was far from it, instead choosing to savour it. This was the closest they'd been in weeks, ever since the accident.
She couldn't remember much about it; in fact, her memory stopped just after Grissom gave the two of them the assignment sheet, somewhere around the two of them on the way to the cars, quibbling over who was going to drive. The next thing she knew, she was waking up in hospital, machines and tubes in every direction, too doped up on painkillers to know what much of what was going on, but she'd known that things were serious when Grissom had told her not to worry, that her parents were on their way.
The blanks had been filled in for her, although not nearly fast enough for her liking. It was Nick who'd told her what had happened, pieced together from what Warrick and other eyewitnesses had told him. She'd tried to remember it, but couldn't, and the doctors had told her that that was normal. Sometimes, she'd wake up in the night, having dreamt of falling and flying and of a familiar voice calling her name, but that was it, and those dreams were her secret.
The one blank that Nick hadn't been able to fill in was where Warrick was, why he'd never come to see her. Nick had had his theories, as had Catherine, and both had told her that they'd tried to convince him to come, but Sara knew how stubborn he could be when he had his mind set on something, knew that if he hadn't come in the first week, he wouldn't come at all.
That first night that she woke up and saw him there, she really did think that she was dreaming. But then she realised that if she were dreaming about him, he'd be talking to her, laughing with her, sitting beside her bed, holding her hand. He wouldn't be all the way over there, his head in his hands, the very picture of dejection and loss. Some instinct had told her to close her eyes, just to lie there, and that's what she'd done. When she'd heard him move, she'd had to fight not to hold her breath, and when she felt his feather light touch on the back of her hand, it was all she'd been able to do not to sob out loud. She'd stayed awake the next night, listening for him, only surrendering to sleep when she'd heard the door open, heard the footsteps cross the room.
She'd thought that maybe when she got out of the hospital that he might visit her then. But she'd moved from the hospital to a rehab centre, staying there for a shorter term than the doctors had planned, stubbornly insisting that she was fine, that she wanted to be at home. It was only when she'd got home that she realised how much adapting she still had to do, though not for the fault of her fellow CSIs. They'd done a huge amount of work in adapting her apartment, rearranging furniture and cupboards, doing all they could to make her life easier. Nick had been a regular fixture on her couch, and Catherine and Lindsey were just as frequent visitors to her guestroom, with Grissom and Greg taking it in turns to bring the takeout.
But not Warrick. Never Warrick.
She'd stopped asking after the first few weeks in the hospital, but once she was home, she missed his nocturnal visits, his quiet presence. The others didn't mention him either, the proverbial elephant in the middle of the room, culminating in that awkward silence in the break room her first day back at work. Funnily enough though, she was the only one who didn't seem to mind it. She hadn't seen him in so long, hadn't spoken to him in even longer, so she didn't have a clue what to say except to greet him, and to hear her name from his lips was enough for her right then.
She'd spent the last two weeks in the CSI lab though, getting back to normal, or as close as she could get to it, seeing him walking around, talking to other people, but practically running in the other direction when she came along, and she had to admit, she'd been getting tired of it. Especially since she'd known in the time she'd been away from work that she'd missed spending time with Warrick. She just hasn't realised how much, hadn't let herself think about how much.
The conversation last night had confirmed her theory, that it was guilt that had been keeping him away, and the fact that he'd come in with her had given her cause to hope that they were getting back on the right path again. Waking up with him like this was certainly an indicator of good progress, and as the phone continued to ring, shattering the fragile silence, she mentally cursed whoever was calling her, interrupting their peace, gritting her teeth as she stretched for the table. She was startled when his hand moved, reaching out for the phone, locating it without opening his eyes, and handing it to her, again with an unintelligible grunt. Sara fought back a smile as she pressed the answer button, resting her head against Warrick's chest again. "Hello?" she murmured, still sleepy.
"Sara?" Catherine's voice was alert, and more than a little concerned. "You ok?"
"I'm fine Cath," Sara replied quickly, knowing that any other response would have either Catherine, Nick or Grissom descending on her place in short order. "I was just sleeping."
"Oh, I'm sorry…you want me to call you back?"
"Don't be silly, it's fine…hey, how's Lindsey?"
"Lindsey?" Catherine sounded confused for a moment, and Sara frowned, but then her friend continued, "Oh, she's fine. Probably just a twenty-four hour thing, you know how kids are. She took a nap on the couch, it did her the world of good."
Her eyes on Warrick, who looked for all the world as if he'd fallen back to sleep, Sara couldn't help but smile. "I know what you mean."
"You got home from the hospital ok then?" Catherine continued. "I mean…Warrick…"
"Yeah, he picked me up," Sara confirmed, a vague suspicion beginning to form at the back of her mind, a suspicion that took firmer root with Catherine's next question.
"Everything ok between you two?"
She sounded almost afraid of the answer, and Sara grinned, shaking her head. "Fine Catherine," she replied simply, keeping any trace of amusement out of her voice, wondering how long she could make Catherine twist in the wind for before she gave her the details.
"Yeah?" Sara could practically hear the look of scepticism on her friend's face, see the wide eyes, the lifted brows.
"Yeah," she smiled, and Warrick's eyelids opened a crack, sleepy green amusement in an otherwise impassive face.
"OK then; I was just calling to check on you. And to see if you want me to pick you up later for the shift."
"No, it's fine." Grateful as she was for the personal chauffeur service that Catherine and the other CSIs had been providing, the words slipped out of Sara's mouth before she even thought about it. "Warrick said he'd bring me in."
"Really?" There were at least seven extra syllables in there as Catherine drew the word out, and a blush appeared on Sara's face.
"Goodbye Catherine."
There was a chuckle at the other end of the line. "Later Sara."
When she hung up the phone, Sara was chuckling quietly to herself, while Warrick's eyes were open, dancing with laughter. She hadn't seen him look this way at her in too long, and she relished the normalcy of it. She propped herself up on one arm, tossing the phone onto the coffee table before folding her arms and laying them on his chest, her chin resting on top of them, returning his sleepy grin. "Volunteering my services without asking me?" he teased, one arm reaching up to brush her hair back.
She shrugged as best she could in her position. "The others have been doing it for weeks… you've got some catching up to do."
She'd been teasing, but he sighed, guilt replacing amusement in his eyes. "I know." His voice was heavy and she shook her head vehemently.
"Don't Warrick, I mean it. You can't think like that. And I won't let you."
"I should have been there Sara. And I don't just mean that night."
She sighed, resting her head on his chest. "You're here now," she pointed out. "That's all that matters."
"Yeah." He didn't sound like he believed her, but that was ok. He'd been carrying around that guilt for months; and that much angst couldn't evaporate in a matter of hours. She'd get through to him, she knew that; after all, she had plenty of time. His head tilted to one side suddenly, and the corner of his lips turned up slightly. "You looked good in that physio room today."
Sara could feel her face light up in accomplishment. "First steps," she told him proudly, and he moved his head back so that he could look down at her.
"Hey!" He sounded as if he was proud of her too, teeth flashing white against his skin when he smiled. "Congratulations!"
"I'll be back in the field in no time," she told him, pushing herself up to a sitting position, her muscles creaking in protest, but she didn't let it show.
"I can't wait." His voice was low, but she heard him anyway, and grinned over at him. "Hey," he said then. "You want to get dinner before the shift? Can't have them thinking that I don't take good care of you."
She arched one eyebrow. "You buying?"
He stood up, stretching his arms in the air, body stiff from lying on the couch with her on top of him. "I think I can stretch to that." He checked his watch. "Pick you up back here in an hour?"
She nodded, getting herself into her chair once more. "I'll see you then."
***
"They're late."
Nick's jaw was clenched tight, his lips pressed together in a thin line as he looked at the clock for the ninth time in five minutes. He tossed an apple from one hand to the other restlessly as he paced the room, only stopping when Grissom grabbed it in mid-toss as Nick passed by his chair.
"Hey, White Rabbit," he said calmly. "Relax. They'll be here."
"He's right Nicky," Catherine said, outwardly as calm as Grissom, although inwardly there was a niggling doubt in the back of her mind. Hopefully, Sara hadn't been shining her on when she'd called her earlier, and the Lord knew, if Warrick had done anything to upset Sara, she was going to kill him with her bare hands.
"When have you ever known Sara to be late for a shift?" Nick asked, looking her dead in the eye. "Or Warrick?" He took a step in one direction, then pivoted in the other. "Cath, if this plan of yours backfired…"
"Look, I talked to Sara earlier on. She said that they were fine. That Warrick was picking her up for the shift, and that she'd see me then." She heard the lack of conviction in her own voice, and from the look of disgust on his face, so did Nick.
He looked as if he was going to say something else, but was silenced by Grissom holding up a hand for silence, his eyes fixed on the door. Catherine and Nick followed his gaze, to see a relaxed Warrick holding open the door for a laughing Sara. Catherine felt a smile come to her face, matched by the one on Nick's, while Grissom remained his usual implacable self. "Hey guys," Sara greeted them, looking from one to the other. "What's up?"
"Sorry we're late," Warrick supplied. "Traffic was a nightmare."
Sara snorted. "We'd have been on time if someone hadn't insisted on not leaving without his fortune cookie," she said, sending a pointed glare in his direction. Her eyes danced with laughter though, as she continued, "And then didn't even open it…"
"Since someone thought I should be watching the road…" Warrick countered, dropping into a seat, long legs sprawled out in front of him. "Hand it over," he commanded, holding out a hand.
Rolling her eyes at Catherine, receiving a questioning glance that had her blushing, Sara tossed him the fortune cookie. "Well, don't keep us in suspense," she ordered when she saw his eyes widen as he read.
"The longest journey begins with a single step," he said, not looking at the paper, just at her, and a grin broke across Sara's face. "Appropriate."
"Appropriate?" Catherine asked, looking from one to the other.
Warrick waved a hand, indicating that she should tell the news, and Sara did. "Yeah. I took my first steps at physio today."
"Sara!" Catherine stepped forward to hug her, and Nick beamed at her from across the room. Even Grissom cracked a smile.
"I'm glad for you Sara," he said, handing an assignment slip to Warrick even as he spoke. "And Warrick, your first step is to a house downtown, shots fired during a robbery; the guy escaped, but left a trail of blood behind."
"Another B&E?" Warrick rolled his eyes.
"You and Catherine," Grissom nodded, not willing to entertain any complaints. "Sara, you'll be running prints on last night's B&E."
Sara nodded, while Catherine snickered. "Have fun Sara."
"Nick, you're with me. Teenager found unconscious in a high school football field."
"Alcohol poisoning anyone?" Nick muttered, holding his hands up when it looked as if Grissom was going to lecture him on the perils of reaching a conclusion before examining the evidence. "I know, I know…never assume."
Grissom nodded in acknowledgement before looking around at the group. "Let's get going." He didn't linger, already on his way out the door before his last syllable had finished forming. Nick at least threw a wave at them before following him out, knowing well that Grissom might well leave him behind if he weren't fast enough for him.
Catherine, Warrick and Sara exchanged grins, and it was Catherine who spoke first. "We should get a move on too…the sooner we start…"
"I hear that," Warrick muttered, standing up. "I'll see you later?" he continued, looking at Sara, and Catherine had to turn her head quickly to hide her smile, especially when she heard Sara's response.
"Yeah…I'll buy breakfast."
Warrick chuckled softly. "You got that right." He glanced at Catherine. "Ready?"
She glanced from him to Sara. "I'll meet you at the car," she told him, and a ghost of a smile crossed his face, broadening for a second when his eyes met Sara's, before he left. Catherine, meanwhile, crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at Sara, one eyebrow arched. "Anything you want to tell me Sara?"
Sara's pale cheeks flushed. "Nope," she replied, but her eyes told a different story, and Catherine threw her head back and laughed.
"I'm not saying a thing," she exclaimed, throwing up her hands. She heard Sara laughing softly behind her as she walked to the door, embarrassed, but happy, and then something occurred to Catherine, and she turned back, looking at her friend. "Hey, Sara… what did your fortune say?"
Sara frowned. "I never opened it. Hang on there…" She opened the cookie, unfolding the paper, reading it out loud. "All will be as it should be." Her eyes flicked over it once, then twice more, and she smiled. "Sounds good to me."
There were tears in her eyes when she looked up at Catherine, and Catherine had to swallow hard against the lump in her own throat. "Me too," she whispered, and their eyes met and held for a long moment. Then Catherine shook herself. "Come on," she ordered, the senior CSI once more. "Let's get to work."
"My pleasure." Sara pushed off and Catherine held the door open, and laughing, the two of them moved side by side through the corridors of the CSI lab, feeling, for the first time in months, like things were finally getting back to normal.
end