The 6th Variable- Dialogue
"Do you want some water?" He asked into the silence.
"Um considering we haven't a clue how he died, I think I'll just dehydrate."
Grissom nodded. "If I had my kit I could make a crude filtering system."
"If we weren't stuck in here, I could have all the filtered water I want."
The room was quiet again. The heat wasn't as unbearable with the fans running but the humidity was still on the rise. Both parties sat in a silent boredom. Grissom removed his forensic jacket and rolled his sleeves up to help combat the humidity, whereas Sara was stuck in her long sleeved shirt damp with sweat. She never remembered feeling so dirty.
"Do you have other stories?" He offered removing his hat. His hair was a mess of entangled curls plastered to his head.
"None worth telling." Sara said taking immediate notice to his curls. "What about you?"
Grissom ran a hand through his hair and dropped it to his side. "Once when I was in college, I got arrested for drug possession."
"Really?" She held back her laughter. "What happened?"
"It was actually for a lab experiment on my mice but the officer didn't believe me. He insisted it was for a water bong. As a freshman biology major didn't help anything either."
As if on cue she coughed out the laughter. Tears cascaded down her face and only intensified the need to release her unspent joy. She actually fell from her seated position to her side on the floor in laughter.
"It wasn't that funny." He frowned.
"I'm sorry." She said seriously. After taking one look at Grissom she was back where she started.
"Okay that's enough." He said with a warning smile.
She wiped her wet face. "Sorry Grissom but I got this mental image of you as a geeky thug getting high on a homemade water bong." She started to laugh uncontrollably again. "You...smoking..."
It started as a low chuckle, but exploded into all out laughter between the two friends. Grissom enjoyed the side splitting ache, which he didn't have often. He also enjoyed Sara's laughter. It had been awhile since either one of them shared a laugh. He welcomed all of it, even the bunker of doom.
She watched his eyes turn from guarded to open. Never before had she seen his eyes so alive and blue. She let her laugh attack die away when she got wrapped up in the blue abysses.
He abruptly stopped when he saw her staring at him. "What?"
"You have such beautiful blue eyes."
He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. "Um..."
She looked at her hands. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"No. Um. Thank you Sara." His words were strained as was the conversation but when she looked up, his words became easier. "No one has ever told me that my eyes were beautiful before."
She smiled as the tension eased away. "Well it's true."
It was quiet except for the fans.
"I think your eyes are pretty too." He said nervously breaking the silence.
"Okay Geek Thug, enough flattery. I don't think either one of us is up for more than one compliment at the same time."
"Okay, but don't call me Geek Thug."
"Only if we get out of here alive."
"Giving up on hope already?"
She looked at her watch. "Two and a half hours we have been trapped in here. My hope was lost a long time ago."
"David has to realize that we haven't gotten back yet."
"I am not counting on it."
"Well Catherine and the guys might begin to wonder."
"Sure."
"Surely Greg will notice we are missing."
"No. He is probably enjoying his music without you around."
"You are a very pessimistic person Sara."
"It's a gift."
"It counteracts your beauty."
She gaped at him in total astonishment. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You are so beautiful when you smile." He shrugged at the simple fact. "So do you really think that no one is going to wonder where we are?"
She blinked hard and finally forced words from her mouth. "Eventually."
"Well only time will tell." He rested his head heavily on the wall. "I hope they notice soon."
"Me too."
It was quiet for a long duration of time. They didn't even move. Grissom closed his eyes only to open them as Sara began to hum. Her finger tapped against her thigh as hum of incoherent phrases became words.
"I live a life that's sheltered, I'm constantly alone, I poured out my weakness, There's an emptiness at home, I need to find a reason to live this way, I'm running out of patience..."
"What song is that?"
She stopped abruptly. "My Reason. I didn't mean to...I just get swept away in thought. Sorry."
"No it's nice. It keeps the silence at bay."
"It's a great song."
He watched her form become still and drained. Something was wrong. It was more than the lyrics, there was feeling behind them. "Is everything okay Sara?"
"We are stuck in someone's paranoid hole out in the desert." She replied sarcastically.
"I meant with...with things."
Her brow knitted in confusion. "Excuse me?"
"Are you okay?"
"You tell me." She blurted out. It came out wrong. It came out period. It shouldn't have left her mouth, but it was too late to take it back. It was too late to explain, too late to go down that road. She didn't want to ruin anything. She wasn't ready for such a risk.
He didn't expect that answer and his face expressed his own confusion and shock. "What does that mean?"
"Nothing. Let's drop it Gris." She smiled warmly at him before rising quickly from his side and walked to the shelving to distract herself from the man that knew nothing about how she felt.
"Aren't you going to answer my question?" He called over to her.
She turned just slightly. "No."
"Okay. I'll remember that." He said with a half-smile of determination.
"I hope you do." She whispered.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing." She removed a box from the shelf.
He watched her for a moment. It amazed him that she could turn any situation around. She picked gracefully through the box. He stood and unbuttoned the two buttons of his dress shirt for regulation of the sudden rise in temperature as he watched her. He boldly went to stand behind her. She did not move away from him as he peered over her shoulder. "What are you doing now?"
"You are such a nosey person." She joked.
"People are nosey, scientists are curious." He said matter-of-factly.
She shook her head. "Go sit down nosey."
(tbc)